Disclaimer: I don't own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody or The Suite Life on Deck. If I did, much of the trouble that stopped me from updating could have been avoided.


Chapter 11: Tape 6- The Prank of Suite 613

It was a long time before anybody let go.


Maya Elizabeth Bennett generally didn't consider herself an emotional person.

She had spent her childhood living in New York City, which forced her to go through some pretty harsh situations that would be scaring for her more innocent friends, like Bailey. As a result, it took a lot to break her.

Hearing Zack's story, though, was something that blew all of Maya's previous experiences out of the water. It was so tragic and radically different from anything she had ever gone through that, at first, she had no idea how to deal with it.

Luckily, as a New Yorker, she was quick to adapt. After the first two videos, Maya opened herself up to the idea and decided to deal with the sadness by letting her more emotional side through. In a way, it seemed sweet to her. Zack had exposed his emotions when they first met because of how much he cared for her, and she had finally done the same by her feelings for him.

Her only regret was that she wasn't allowed to tell this to her boyfriend. That would involve telling him that they had seen the videos and knew about Cody, and Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller said they couldn't do that until they had watched the last video. Maya suspected that she was the only one who had any opposition to this statement, though. It was clear by the way they reacted when the statement was brought up that the others would be perfectly happy with never telling Zack what they had seen.

So, Maya was not at all surprised by the grim expressions of Bailey and Miss Tutweillers' faces as Mr. Moseby led them to his cabin to watch the sixth and final video. They had actually looked that way since Bailey had discovered Zack's letter to Cody the previous day, so Maya suspected that dread of telling Zack was not all of it. She remembered that this video was supposed to be happy, so she hoped that it would cheer her friend and teacher up.

Mr. Moseby opened his cabin and the group all took their usual chair without thinking about it. Maya noticed that they were all in the exact same positions as they had been when the group watched the fifth video, even though that had been almost a week ago. She frowned. Mr. Moseby didn't even need to move his chair to do work? After a second of thought, she gave up. As Zack had said: "Don't try to get inside Mr. Moseby's head. It's a twisted labyrinth that you'll never find your way out of." She ducked her head so that Mr. Moseby wouldn't see her smile as he stood up to address the group.

"As you may recall, I mentioned last time that that video would be the last of the ones showing Cody's death." Everyone nodded, and Mr. Moseby continued. "This video is not a sad one. It also has nothing to do with what happened to Cody, so you may be wondering why I'm bothering to show it to you." Again, everybody nodded. "I mentioned before we watched the first video that Cody's death had a major effect on Zack's personality. You saw a little evidence of that by watching Zack and Cody's interactions in the video where they first arrived at the Tipton." And by reading Zack's letter, Maya thought bitterly. "This video will give you a better idea about what Zack and Cody used to be like, and how they interacted with each other, as well as their friends and the hotel employees."

When Mr. Moseby finished his speech, Maya sat up taller in her chair and stared intently at the screen. She was now extremely curious, and for the first time ever watching the videos, excided. She had loved the way Zack and Cody had interacted in the first video. Zack had seemed more happy and relaxed than she had ever seen him, but that also made her sad. She wished that Cody was still alive… for both her and her friends' sakes, as well as her boyfriend's. It was obvious that Zack cared deeply for Cody and that he made him happy. Even if she hadn't seen the second through fifth videos, Maya could have figured that. She wished that Cody was still around to make Zack happier, but she also wanted to know him herself. He seemed like a very interesting and nice person, and Maya was sure they would get along. After all, Cody seemed a lot like a male version of Bailey, and Bailey was one of Maya's closest friends.

Maya was brought back to the present by Mr. Moseby closing the DVD player. He sat back down in his armchair and Maya watched the screen light up. When the video started playing, though, she couldn't focus on anything, because the person holding the camera wasn't focused on recording. The screen twisted and she heard random voices all talking at once and laughing. She instinctively stiffened, because it reminded her too much of the second video, of Drew and his entourage. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bailey look down at her hands and assumed they were thinking the same way.

Luckily, the screen focused a few seconds later as the person filming turned it to face them. Dimly, she remembered Drew doing the same thing, but the completely different atmosphere prevented her from dwelling on it too much.

Cody was positioned in the center of the frame, holding the camera. London and the Tipton's bellboy, Esteban, were on his left side, and Maddie and the engineer, Arwin, were on his right. All five of them wore giant smiles on their faces. Maya felt nostalgia rise up in her stomach and she smiled bitter-sweetly.

Cody spoke up first. "Hi!" he exclaimed cheerfully, flashing a grin. "I'm Cody Martin, and this is London, Esteban, Maddie, and Arwin." The others smiled and waved as Cody introduced them. "We're going to pull a prank on my brother, Zack!" Cody grinned wider, and Maya couldn't help but smile back, her excitement growing. This would be interesting… She tuned back in on Cody as he described the prank.

"The six of us are going to spend the night in Suite 613, which they say is haunted. Zack acts like he's not afraid of ghosts, but we know he is. And he's been really cocky and irritating lately, so we decided to use some special effects to make the ghost real."

Maya smiled again as Cody adjusted the camera so it was focused on Arwin. She knew she should probably feel bad for her boyfriend, since he was the one about to get pranked. It was hard, though, given the amount of pranks Zack pulled, especially since many of them were directed at her. Also, pulling a prank was the perfect way to lessen the atmosphere, which they all undoubtedly needed.

She tuned back in to the video as Arwin started explaining the mechanics of the prank; they would use a remote-control skeleton, and buttons to control the door and lights of the suite. She was impressed with the amount of effort the group had put into this prank. She looked down sadly and smiled a half-smile. Too bad Cody couldn't still be alive and able to organize a prank like this with them now…

Luckily, she was saved from further thoughts by the end of Arwin's explanation. Cody turned the camera so everyone could be seen and the group set off down the hallway, stopping in front of a door with a brass number reading 613. Cody stood at the back of the group and aimed the camera at London as she opened the door.

Even though Cody mentioned that the room was supposed to be haunted, the condition of Suite 613 surprised Maya. The furniture was covered with white sheets, which combined with the darkness to give the room an abandoned feeling. The effect was lessened when Maddie flipped on the lights, but the room still seemed very out-of-place with the other parts of the hotel she had seen on the videos.

Once everyone was inside, Cody pointed the camera at a mirror by the door. The glass had been broken near the bottom. There was a large hole with cracks webbing out from it, suggesting that the break had occurred by an impact with something. Her theory was further supported by a small pile of glass shards at the base of the mirror.

"See this mirror?" Cody asked. "According to the story, Irene, the woman whose ghost haunts this suite, threw her hairbrush at it when she learned that her husband had cheated on her. We're going to use it as part of our prank. When Zack looks in it, Arwin will shoot out another hairbrush, to make him think Irene's ghost was watching him." Maya grinned again. This prank kept sounding better and better!

"Cody," Maddie spoke up suddenly, and Cody directed the camera at her. She blushed a bit at the sudden attention but continued anyway. "We should go now. Zack will be expecting us to be ready in half an hour."

"Okay, thanks Maddie," Cody spoke up from behind the camera. He then turned it back around so it was facing him. "I'm going to put the camera in the corner, so Zack can't see it. It should be able to see everything, though. Bye for now!" With that, Cody set the camera down on a side table, then he, Maddie, London, Esteban, and Arwin left the suite.

Maya was wondering if they'd have to sit through a half hour of nothingness, when suddenly the screen went black. Curiously, she looked over at Mr. Moseby.

He noticed her gaze, as well as the others, who also were looking. "I cut out the middle portion of the tape. The next thing will be the actual prank."

Maya looked between the blackness and Mr. Moseby with a questioning look on her face. The manager didn't blush, but when he spoke, his voice sounded flustered. "I didn't do it very well." Maya rolled her eyes fondly and turned back to the screen.

The black remained for a few more seconds until the video came back on. As promised, the camera remained on the same table. It was fairly far from the people in the room, but they still had a good view. Cody must have adjusted the zoom so that they would be able to see.

Cody, Zack, London, Maddie, and Esteban all sat at the covered dining table, holding hand. They all looked nervous as Esteban looked towards the ceiling and called out to the ghost of Irene, but Maya knew that Zack's expression was the only one that was genuine. She bit back a laugh. Esteban sounded completely ridiculous when he began to answer in a high-pitched, feminine voice, meant to be Irene. How did the four of them manage to keep a straight face?

The urge to laugh grew as, one by one, "Irene" spoke to Maddie, Cody, and London and the three of them either ran out of sight or were dragged off by cables on their chairs that Maya assumed had been put there by Arwin. When all three of them appeared in front of the camera and began silently laughing and high-fiving, however, Maya did burst out laughing. Mr. Moseby jumped in his chair and reflexively paused the tape.

"This is amazing," she remarked, as a way of an explanation for her outburst. "Cody is brilliant."

Mr. Moseby chuckled as all the other residents of the cabin followed Maya's influence and began to laugh. "Yes," he answered. "While Cody was the smarter of the two, he generally preferred to use his brain to further his and others education. So when he let loose and used it to come up with something like this, the result was hilarious. But when Zack, Cody, and Arwin teamed up on something, the result was almost legendary."

Maya began laughing even harder as she pictured that. "I wish I could've been there to see it."

She immediately regretted her words. The cheery mood evaporated faster than ice during the summer and everyone was reminded that this couldn't happen any more- Zack couldn't be happy any more- because Cody was gone.

Sensing the tension, Mr. Moseby shakily cleared his throat. "Let's continue," he said, quickly pressing play.

Watching the tape helped. It really did. Maya understood why Mr. Moseby had wanted to show it to them. For as Maya watched Zack freak out due to his assumption that his friends had been kidnapped, then to Arwin's other tricks, Maya felt her mood lift a bit. For a moment, she remembered that the past wasn't all bad; there were moments like this and probably countless others. Zack had been happy, no matter how distant past.

Plus, she was getting an idea of who Cody was, other than a boy who had gotten bullied and killed. She was beginning to see for herself the stories that Mr. Moseby had told them: that Cody was a genius who was a little on the childish side, and that's Zack's loyalty to his brother had been absolute long before they were placed in any kind of danger.

Finally, with the finale of Cody, Maddie, and London donning white sheets and hovering over Zack like ghosts, the prank ended. The three pulled off their costumes, laughing their heads off, the room's lights clicked on, and all the "monsters" retreated back into the shadows. Zack was clearly shocked and scared, and watched angrily as Cody, with the help of Arwin and the others, explained to him their prank.

After they were through, Maddie brought out a box of pizza from the closet and they all dug in, Zack now vehemently trying to convince the others that he hadn't been scared. Maya had to stifle a laugh and fondly rolled her eyes at the younger version of her boyfriend. While Zack's personality may have done almost a complete revolution, it was nice to know that at least some things never changed.

Maya's favorite part of the video was the ending. Cody threw Zack's own words back at him when he again insisted that he knew it was all fake. "Yeah, right!" Cody exclaimed. "You should've seen your face! Oh, wait! I can show you your face!" He then proceeded to make an exaggerated scared face, accompanied by high-pitched screaming and arm flailing. Maya laughed again as Zack's anger visibly mounted, resulting in him chasing his brother out of the suite.

Maddie, London, Esteban, and Arwin stared after them for a moment in silence before joining Maya in laughter. They continued this way for a while, so slowly Bailey, Miss Tutweiller, Marcus, and Woody joined in. As she was laughing, Maya realized how much she had missed times like this. With the whole twins unit and watching of the tapes, her life had been getting extremely somber and almost depressing. She knew it was nothing close to what Zack suffered, which made her appreciate his strength even more, but she was still thankful for the relief. She snorted. Who would've thought that videos about how Zack's world had been shattered would provide her a link to sanity?

The moment ended quickly, however. It seemed that Zack and Cody had only been gone a minute before Maddie walked over to the camera and said, "Bye! I hoped you enjoyed that as much as we did!" and shut it off. The laughter of the room's occupants outlived the tape by only a few seconds, as if the end of the tape had flipped a switch, bringing them from a dream world of the past to their harsh reality of the present.


Mr. Moseby pressed the power button and gathered up the tape, only a hint of a smile still present. He turned and faced them, like a teacher preparing to give a lecture to his students.

"That was the last tape," he said, life leaving his voice with every word. "Now you know what happened to Cody, and why Zack is the way he is. I know some of you want to tell Zack that you watched the videos, and want to help him. I'm not sure I would recommend that, however."

Angrily, Maya opened her mouth to protest, but the manager cut her off before she could. "Think about it. Zack has had to live with people knowing what happened to Cody for years. He's had to deal with people he barely knows coming up to him and apologizing. He's had to deal with people seeing him as what Cody left behind, not as Zack. And he has had to deal with that on top of his existing group. Here, he was able to get away from that. I understand that you want to help him, but I think that dragging up the past will cause more harm than good. Some things are better forgotten."

Maya closed her mouth once Mr. Moseby was done. She didn't agree with him. Not one bit. But Marcus and Woody were nodding, and Miss Tutweiller said, "Maybe you're right. We should just let demons die."

She caught Bailey looking at her from the corner of her eye. Maya knew that her friend had first agreed with Mr. Moseby's way of thinking and was against telling Zack, but she could see that she was beginning to change her mind. They would tell Zack. It didn't matter that the others didn't agree. Zack deserved to know. It was unfair to make him suffer through this alone.

Maya would be there for him. Even if no one else would.


*hands you the chapter then backs away slowly* Um, hi? I'm so sorry for not updating since... what, March? I know that that's so long that I can't really justify it, but I have been busy recently (hint: don't combine junior year and marching band practice). Also, I was having trouble finding the Ghost of Suite 613 episode, which is what this chapter is based off of. I never did find it, so I just tried to write the video without actually watching the episode. Hopefully you like it!

In other news, since my last update, I've gotten really into anime. I'm currently working on a Attack on Titan Levi/Petra oneshot, so if that's your thing, look for it coming (hopefully) soon!

Thanks to everybody who reviewed Chapter 10!

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