Sponge: All right, gang! Chapter ten coming atcha! First of all, I just want to give a MAJOR shout out to XxLadyStrengthxX. Everyone should know how awesome she is – she gives the greatest reviews ever! Anyway…I know you're all probably thinking, What could Sponge possibly have up her sleeve now? Well, the story's not over quite yet. I have to tie up all the loose ends. You'll see a few more plot points from The Ring Two in this chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters – they belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. I also don't own any of the characters or the plotline of The Ring or The Ring Two. They belong to Dreamworks, Koji Suzuki, and Hideo Nakata. Also, all lyrics to "Samara's Song" belong to Dreamworks as well. (Yep, you'll see the song again in this chapter.) Enjoy chapter 10!

Chapter 10: Patrick and Mary Jane

The next morning, Velma awoke feeling incredibly joyful. The weight of the world was off of her shoulders. She smiled to herself to find Shaggy beside her again. Her smile grew larger. He stirred in his sleep, and then awoke.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Velma said, still grinning brightly. Despite the sleepiness in his eyes, Shaggy beamed back at her.

"Like, good morning," he replied, kissing her. "How are you feeling?"

"So much better than before," Velma told him.

"Like, me too," Shaggy said. For lack of a more eloquent phrase, he continued with, "I'm like, so happy that you're not dead." Velma giggled. That was Shaggy – saying whatever it was he was feeling directly from the heart, not worrying about having a verbose way of saying it.

"I am too," Velma said.

Across the hall, Fred and Daphne were also enjoying each others' company.

"I can't stop smiling," Daphne was saying. "I mean…we were so close to losing Velma."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Fred said. "And she and Shag had just gotten together." Fred sighed and stroked Daphne's hair. "I wouldn't be able to bear it if I lost you."

"Good thing you'll never lose me, then," Daphne told him with a smile and a kiss.

And finally, Scooby and Lorelei were discussing things as well.

"Re rid rit!" Scooby exclaimed happily.

"Did what?" Lorelei was confused and still rather sleepy. Suddenly, it came to her. "OH! Aunt Velma broke the curse and she and Shaggy are together!" Lorelei beamed at the dog. "You're right, Scooby! We did it! We're quite a team, huh?"

"Reah!" Scooby cried, licking Lorelei's face. Lorelei laughed, but it was only half-hearted. She felt something odd inside her…some sort of odd sensation that something bad was going to happen.

The afternoon was a rather joyous as well – in fact, it was the happiest afternoon that the gang had had all week. Velma called Dottie around noon and told her that they'd solved the mystery and the curse had been broken.

"Velma, that's wonderful!" Dottie exclaimed. "Did having Lorelei around help?"

"Lorelei was a huge help," Velma told her. She neglected to mention the fact that Lorelei had been trapped in a well, but she figured that Dottie didn't need to know that right then.

"I'm so glad!" Dottie paused. "I'm sorry I yelled at you the other day."

"Don't worry about it, Dottie," Velma said. "I understand why you did. But you have to know that I would never let anything bad happen to Lorelei on purpose. I love her so much."

"I do know that," Dottie said. "It makes me feel good inside to know that Lorelei has been in such good hands all week."

Velma smiled and was about to say something else when Lorelei tugged on the hem of her sweater and reached for the phone. Velma gave it to her.

"Hi, Mom!" Lorelei said. "Um, we're having such an awesome time together…I was wondering if I could stay with them for a few more days so we can celebrate?" There was a pause. "No, I'm sure they wouldn't mind keeping me for a few extra days." Velma smiled bigger and took the phone back from her niece.

"We would love it if Lorelei stayed with us for a few more days," Velma told her. There was a pause. "Okay, you can pick her up Tuesday afternoon. That will be fine. See you then, Dot!" Velma flipped her phone shut. "Hey gang, Dottie's going to let Lorelei stay with us a few more days."

"Yaaaaaay!" cheered the entire gang from inside the kitchen where they were all having lunch. Lorelei beamed. Velma was about to say something else when the hotline rang.

"Sheesh," Velma laughed as she picked up the phone. "Hello?" Pause. "This is Velma Dinkley." Another pause. "Oh, hi Detective Edelbrock!"

"So like, what should we do to celebrate the end of the scariest mystery of our lives?" Shaggy asked. Lorelei was about to answer, when she was interrupted.

"What?" Velma looked stricken. The entire gang fell silent as they stared at her. Velma looked as though she couldn't believe her ears. "But…but that's impossible!" she stuttered. The other members of the gang looked at each other confusedly. "Well…" Velma sighed. "Yes, we'll be right down. Thank you." Velma hung up the phone and turned to the gang.

"That was Detective Edelbrock," she told them. "Patrick is dead."

x.X.x

"I don't understand it," Daphne said on the way to Patrick's house. She, Fred and Velma were sitting in the front seat while Scooby, Shaggy and Lorelei sat in the back. "I thought Deanna said that you had broken the curse,"

"She did say that," Velma said. "I don't understand either."

"Maybe…each individual person has to break the curse?" Fred suggested. Velma shrugged.

"That's a possibility. That's actually very likely."

"You know what this means though, right?" Daphne whispered. "It means that Lorelei is still in danger."

"And Dottie," Velma realized. "I just told her that I'd broken the curse, too!"

"Hey Velms," Fred said. "Don't blame yourself. Let's just talk to Detective Edelbrock for a few minutes and then we'll try to figure something out. All right?" Velma sighed and nodded.

When they showed up at Patrick's house, they were met by Detective Edelbrock.

"Hello, Mystery Inc," he said. "He's in here." Detective Edelbrock led them into Patrick's living room, where he was sprawled on the floor with a look of sheer terror on his face, much as Jonathan had been. Velma raised a hand to her mouth as tears stung her eyes. It was true, she no longer thought of Patrick romantically, but still…he had been a friend. Shaggy took her hand and held it.

"You found him like this?" Fred asked.

"Just like we found Jonathan Gates," Detective Edelbrock sighed. "I told you last week at the Gates' that the coroner has no idea how Jonathan died. He probably won't know what killed this man either." Detective Edelbrock turned to Velma. "We thought it was interesting that he had your name in his cell phone, so we called you right away."

"Thank you," Velma murmured. "We appreciate it."

"Do you have any leads at all in your investigation?" the detective asked. What could Velma say? What could any of them say? Up until this afternoon, they had believed they had solved the mystery. Now, they were right back where they started.

"Nothing substantial yet," Velma said. "But we'll let you know."

"Please do," Detective Edelbrock told her. "These are the most disturbing murders those of us at the Tri-City Police Department have ever witnessed."

x.X.x

"Like, what should we do?" Shaggy asked as they left Patrick's house.

"Well obviously, Velma did something that Patrick did not," Fred said. "So we need to figure out what it was that she did and get Lorelei and Dottie to do it, too."

"I have no idea what it could be," Velma said.

"Maybe we should pay another visit to Rachel Keller," Daphne suggested.

"But didn't they say they would call you when she and Aidan were able to speak again?" Velma said, puzzled.

"Velma, we saw them four days ago. I find it pretty hard to believe that they wouldn't be able to speak to us after four days."

"I don't know…" Velma said. "It took Rose Anderson about five days to start speaking again – and even then she wasn't all the way there."

"Well, I think we should go anyway," Daphne proclaimed. "Rachel is the only lead we've got that's still reliable. She knows how to break the curse. We just need to ask her." So Freddie turned the Mystery Machine around and drove to Astoria.

x.X.x

During all this, Lorelei had been having some extremely odd sensations. They weren't necessarily physical sensations – she just had a feeling that someone was right next to her for the entire time. She could have sworn that she heard the voice in her head laughing when they saw Patrick. Lorelei was terribly frightened by all these circumstances and had no idea what to do.

The entire (long) ride to Astoria was silent. At one point, Lorelei fell asleep and didn't wake up again until they arrived at the hospital. The six of them walked in together.

"Hello," Velma said to the admissions clerk. "We're here to see Rachel Keller. She's a patient here." The admissions clerk typed Rachel's name into the computer, then looked back up at Velma.

"I'm sorry," she said. "She's not awake yet."

"What?" Daphne was baffled. "But she and Aidan had their seizures four days ago!"

"Look ma'am," said the receptionist. "I'm not a doctor. I don't know what's up with them, but neither one is awake yet. If you give me your phone number, though, I will call you when they do wake up."

The members of the gang looked at each other. Daphne shrugged and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down her cell phone number, since she knew she had already given the paramedics the number for the hotline. And, feeling very defeated, they returned to the Mystery Machine. The ride home, too, was silent. Scooby sat with his head glumly outside the passenger seat window, Daphne twiddled her thumbs in her lap and Fred stared straight ahead at the road. Velma fell asleep with her head on Shaggy's shoulder and he fell asleep his head on her head. Normally, Lorelei would have been cheered up by this.

But she was rather preoccupied at the moment.

"You can't stop me, no matter how hard you try."

There was the voice that she had heard in her head all week. Lorelei shut her eyes and found herself in an almost dream-like world, face to face with none other than Samara Morgan.

The two girls stood facing each other, Samara's hair falling over her face.

"…What's happening?" Lorelei asked. She wasn't sure if she was physically speaking or not.

"I told you I was coming for you," Samara told her. Lorelei's heart skipped several beats.

"What do you mean?" Suddenly, it occurred to Lorelei. "You're the voice I've been hearing in my head all week. You're the one who's been causing me to see weird things. You…" Lorelei stared at her. "You killed Jonathan and his friends."

"That's right," Samara smiled. Lorelei wasn't sure how she knew that Samara was smiling – she still couldn't see her face. "I killed Patrick, too. Mary Jane is next. No one can stop me – I'm everywhere."

"Why are you here?" Lorelei asked, her voice trembling in fear. "Aunt Velma broke the curse and…my last day isn't until tomorrow."

"You broke the curse, too," Samara told her. Lorelei stared at her.

"How?"

"I can't tell you that," Samara said. "I don't want people to know how to break the curse. I want them all to die. Everyone will suffer."

"What…this is about revenge?" Lorelei was appalled.

"I've missed being in the real world," Samara told her. "The only time I get a chance is when someone watches my tape and then I kill them a week later. I want to live again. And I found my chance with you."

"What are you…?" Suddenly, everything made sense to Lorelei. Everything. "That first day at the Gates' house…I saw your reflection in the TV. And when I touched it, it rippled…and your spirit came into me." Lorelei's breath began coming quicker and quicker. "You possessed me! That's why I've been hearing your voice in my head all week! And…I haven't been having visions! You've been having memories!"

"You're smart," Samara asked. "You know, my original plan was to take over your body when you died so that I could live again through you but…since you broke my curse, we'll just have to share a body." Lorelei's eyes widened.

"Get out of my head!" she shouted. Samara lunged for her and the two girls grappled for a few minutes. Samara found a rock lying on the ground (where were they, anyway, were they inside Lorelei's mind or what?) and slammed it into Lorelei's head. Lorelei's sight went black…

Samara blinked a couple times. She was in the back of a van. Two people – Velma and Shaggy – were sleeping against each other. A dog – Scooby – was hanging his head out the window. A blonde man was driving, and a redheaded woman sat beside him. Samara knew their names were Fred and Daphne. She had complete access to Lorelei's mind.

"Give me my body back!" shouted Lorelei's disembodied voice from inside Samara's head. Samara smiled sinisterly. She could feel another part of her getting ready to kill. She knew Mary Jane's time was coming…

x.X.x

When the gang arrived back home, Shaggy checked the messages on the hotline. A few minutes later, he hung up glumly.

"Like, that was Detective Edelbrock," Shaggy told them. "They just found Mary Jane dead, too."

"I can't imagine what I did that they didn't," Velma said. "I've been thinking about it all day, but I have no idea." She and Shaggy held hands as Shaggy used his other hand to scratch Scooby between the ears. Fred's arm was around Daphne. Everyone seemed glum, but no one noticed Lorelei smiling. No one knew that she was no longer Lorelei, of course. They had no way of knowing.

"Let's get some rest, gang," Fred finally sighed. "We'll try to figure things out some more in the morning."

"All right, Freddie," everyone ad-libbed. The four adults walked upstairs. Scooby almost followed, but turned to Lorelei at the last minute.

"Roo roming, Rorelei?" he asked.

"I…I'll stay down here a little longer," Samara replied. Scooby shrugged and walked upstairs. Once he was gone, Samara smiled to herself again. She was free at last. She walked the halls of headquarters for the remainder of the night, singing softly to herself:

"Round we go
The world is spinning
When it stops
It's just begining
Sun comes up
We laugh and we cry
Sun goes down
And then we all die…"

Sponge: Yeah, this chapter is a tad shorter than the rest of them (okay well, a LOT shorter) but…just as intense, right? I mean, Lorelei is possessed by an evil spirit of a very jealous little girl. What will happen next? Only one way to find out, my good fans: REVIEW!