Note: Okay! Last chapter! Thanks for all the reviews, and keep an eye out for my other stories!
He and Tori stepped into the room.
And what they saw made them both gasp aloud.
Yes, Cat Valentine was there.
But, she had the vacant, creepy smile across her pink lips and her eyes were much too empty. She didn't look like herself.
And yes, she was indeed the one singing.
She was standing in front of the door as though guarding whatever was inside.
"Cat," said Tori. "Are you…feeling evil?"
The girl turned her head slowly and met Tori's warm brown eyes with her own empty ones.
"Cat!" Said Andre, urgently. "Snap out of it!" He shook the small girl's shoulders, moving her head back and forth.
And then, suddenly, the little girl fell to the ground with an echoic thud.
"What?" Tori asked, horrified. "Andre, what happened?"
Cat's eyes were closed peacefully and her hair was fanned across her shoulders. She was still smiling the sinister grin.
"I-I don't know," said Andre. "Do you think she's okay?"
"How should I know?" Asked Tori.
It wasn't like she had any practice with demons entering her friends' bodies.
She fell beside Cat, trying to wake her up.
"Cat," said Tori, wobbling her friend back and forth. "Cat, are you okay?"
Suddenly, the tiny girl stirred. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"Where am I?" She whispered. "Tori?"
"Yeah, Cat, it's Tori," said the brunette. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah," she said, stretching a little bit. "Yeah, I think so. I'm just so…so tired…" She put her head in Tori's lap and shut her eyes.
"Cat!" Exclaimed Tori. "Wake up! Don't you want to know if everybody's okay?"
"Mmmhmm…"
"Cat!"
"Mmmm?"
"You can't sleep!"
"Mmmm…"
"Forget it," said Andre. "She seems really tired. Whatever was inside her obviously sucked up all of her energy."
He gently lifted the girl and set her upon a table in the only part of the room that they could see. "What do you thinks in here?" Andre asked Tori.
"I dunno," she admitted. "Let's check it out." She and Andre walked forward. The room didn't seem to be too big.
"Ouch!" Cried Andre suddenly. A loud clang echoed off the walls. "What the hell?"
He had hit his head on something.
Tori reached up and felt a long metal chain on the ceiling.
"Andre, I think it's a torch or something," she said. "I feel a candle wick."
"So light it," said Andre, rubbing his forehead in frustration.
Kay," said Tori, feeling her way up to the hanging candle with her own candle. "And…there."
She stood back proudly as golden light filled the room. However, the proud feeling didn't last when Tori saw exactly what the darkness had been concealing.
They were all there.
Beck, Jade, Sykowits, Layne, and even Rex were all in the room.
Jade was still unconscious, however something had changed since her body lay by the broken glass of the chandelier. She was wearing a tattered, dirty costume that didn't cover her body very well.
She was dressed as a very dirty and broken bride. Her costume was cut and torn around her waist and her black bra was revealed under the grimy white dress top. Her makeup was smeared across her face.
Beck didn't look any better. He was still dressed in his regular clothes, but he had a cut above his eye that was bleeding heavily onto the floor.
Rex was bleeding white stuffing, his eyes were gouged out and he was still soaked in blood.
Sykowits and Layne were still conscious, but just barely. And they both had ropes around their hands and feet and gags across their mouths. Layne looked up at Tori with fear in his eyes.
Tori covered her hands across her mouth. What happened? Why were they all trapped in here? What had done this? Was it Bad Cat that physically did it? Had she put the ropes on the hands and feet of Sykowits and Layne and dressed Jade as a bride? Why a bride? WHAT WAS GOING ON?
"Andre…" muttered Tori. "What's going on?"
"No idea," he said faintly.
Suddenly, the door behind them rattled.
Tori looked at Andre with fear in her eyes.
Then the door burst open, and Robbie Shapiro walked through.
"Guys," he said. He sounded out of breath. "What's going on? Where's Cat?"
He spotted her body on the floor and crouched down at once.
"Don't worry," said Andre. "She's gonna be fine. She's just tired. But…" He looked around. Obviously, he was saying that he didn't know if the others would be okay.
"What happened?" Robbie gasped. "Why are they all here? Who did this?"
"Bad Cat," answered Tori and Andre simultaneously. "We think."
"Bad Cat?" Robbie looked confused.
Tori briefly explained everything that had happened. Robbie looked horrified.
"Oh my god," he said quietly.
"Let's get the ropes off these guys," said Andre, as he started to remove the tattered roping around their teachers limbs. Robbie removed the gag, while Tori examained Beck's wound. She tore a piece of cloth off of Jade's wedding dress and dabbed at the blood until it stopped.
Andre and Robbie got the ropes and gags off, and Sykowits and Layne started gasping for breath.
"Are you three okay?" Asked Layne at once.
"Yeah," said Tori.
"Robbie's bleeding," said Sykowits examining Robbie's cut.
"It's fine," he said.
"What happened to you anyway?" Asked Andre.
"I don't know," he said. "I was just going into a room to look for Beck, and then I got really cold and heard Cat scream, so I tried to go to her but then…then it was like the world tipped, or something and then I blacked out."
"What happened to you?" Asked Robbie to Sykowits and Layne.
"Well, it was really weird," said Layne. "Almost the same thing. Except when we woke up, Cat was tying ropes around our hands and feet. Has she gone insane?"
Tori explained again about Bad Cat and the demon in Cat's body.
"So she's been possessed?" Asked Sykowits. "By a spirit?"
"Apparently," said Andre. "What about Beck and Jade? What happened to them?"
"They were both like this when we woke up in here," said Layne.
Suddenly, a loud voice rang out.
"Neither Beck nor Jadelyn will wake," it said.
"Who's there?" Called Andre.
Suddenly, Cat sat up again.
She was haunted again.
"Neither Beck nor Jadelyn will wake," she repeated.
"Look, whatever you are, get out of Cat!" Screamed Robbie hysterically. "Get out! And let us leave!"
"No," said Cat. "I am Cat now. And you will all be here forever."
"Forever?" Repeated Tori faintly.
"Yes. You are now performers here."
"What does that mean?" Demanded Andre.
"It means that this playhouse has been closed for quite some time," said Cat in the hollow empty voice that belonged to the demon possessing her. "And I have been lonely for a very long time. And now," she paused and let out a free, tinkling, but still scary laugh, "Now I've got friends."
"Who are you?" Demanded Sykowits.
"My name is not important. But, I was once the owner of this theater. Then, all of my friends moved onto bigger and better things. But me…I never moved on. And now, neither will you."
She gazed at them all with her hollow eyes.
"Is that why she's dressed like that?" Andre asked pointing to Jade's body.
"Why yes," answered Bad Cat. "How would you like to be the groom?"
"Huh?" Asked Andre, taken aback.
Suddenly, Cat stood up and walked toward Andre slowly and walking in staggering steps.
"Robbie, do something!" Shouted Tori.
"What can I do?" He shouted frantically.
"Get regular Cat back!"
Robbie ran at her and she slowly turned around.
"Oh, you'll be Jadelyn's groom then?"
Robbie's eyes darted back and forth s she advanced on him. He was looking for a distraction.
"Look, Cat," He said. "I know you're in there somewhere. And…And I love you. And I really want you back to normal."
And suddenly, acting on pure courage, Robbie leaned forward and planted his lips on Cat's.
He kissed her passionately for a few moments, and then pulled away.
"Cat?" he asked, his voice shaking.
"Robbie?" Cat asked, her voice back to normal. "What happened? Why did we kiss? Wait…You're okay!" She threw her arms around his neck.
From the floor, both Beck and Jade moved, and then sat up.
"Why am I dressed like this?" Were Jade's first words.
"Beck! Jade!" Everybody shouted, before crowding around the teenagers and hugging them tightly. "You guys are okay!"
"Y-Yeah," said Beck. "What happened?"
"We'd explain if we knew," said Cat. She still seemed shaken up by the day's events.
"I don't understand how we got out of this," said Andre. "How did Cat get back to normal?"
"Robbie kissed her," answered Tori, beaming.
And from then on, it was proof. No matter how bad situations get, true love will always prevail.
"Let's get out of here," said Andre, shaken up. "We should probably go to a hospital for Beck and Jade."
"I hate hospitals!" Spat Jade.
"We're going to the hospital," answered Beck, hugging her close. "Whether you like it or not. You were struck by lightning."
"I know, stupid," said Jade. But she returned his hug, just the same.
From then on, Jade listened to Beck a little bit better too. She understood that he only wanted the best for her.
They all walked down the steps and to the main door.
It opened easily, and once they got outside, they realized the storm had stopped.
"I don't understand," said Beck. "What happened to the door? I didn't open before."
"This was all just a lonely spirit trying to make some friends," said Tori, who was very pale. "It entered Cat's body, since she was the weakest. And it was trying to get us to perform for it. That's why Jade's in the dress."
"Well, one thing's for sure," said Andre. "This will be quite a sight at the hospital."
They all laughed, which, just a few minutes earlier had been something that none of them had thought that they'd ever to again.
But, they were all okay. The sun was out, and their friendships had grown stronger. The ghost had been defeated by Robbie and Cat's love.
And, while things would never be the same again, they were most likely going to become better.
And, they were surely going to get an A on the assignment.
Note: It really was a ghost, after all! Okay, a happy ending! I'm thinking of adding one more chapter. Like what happened a week later or something, just so you guys will know what comes of Cabbie and Tandre, and how Robbie deals without ( icky, bloody) Rex. So, if you want that, tell me in a review, otherwise I won't bother. Leave me a final review? Thanks!
-StrawberryAngel
