A few weeks after Adachi was dethroned as king of the Midnight Channel and arrested, the Investigation Team decided to have a movie night. What better way to celebrate surviving a psychopath's world-ending plans? Salty and sugary snacks clutter the small coffee table. The classic buttered popcorn, candy bars and other chocolates, and there's a rainbow of every soda flavor imaginable. Truly the feast of royalty (and movie enthusiasts). Everyone brought a movie and arrived early but Yukiko is late. Chie was about to call her when the dark-haired woman knocked on the door. Kanji answered and politely poured a drink for her.
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"Sorry I'm late. I had a hard time picking a movie. So I brought two."
"That's fine. I don't plan sleeping anytime soon. Hopefully the amount of caffeine and sugar doesn't kill me either."
"What genre is it?" Chie asked, already knowing the answer. "Horror?"
"Yes. And you rented the newest martial arts movie?"
"Like she'd pick anything else," Yosuke snorted.
Chie smiled, ignoring Yosuke's observation. "Yeah I did! How else am I supposed to learn new martial art moves?"
Naoto smiled. "I brought Death Note. The detective in that anime is the smartest I've seen."
Kanji flexed his muscles. "I brought Rocky! It's the manliest movie ever!"
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"What about you, Yosuke?" Yu sat next to his best friend on the sofa. Yosuke smiled like he had won the lottery as he tossed a handful of popcorn in his mouth. "Reservoir Dogs. Cool action, guns, and badass guys –what film could be better?"
Rise sat on the other side of Yu, held his arm, and batted her eyelashes. Her entire face and eyes sparkled. "I brought a rom-com –with a side of angst! Aren't romantic movies the best?"
"Oh, a rom-com! I love those!" Teddie laughed.
Everyone found some place to sit and turned on the TV. Rise put her movie in first.
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"Okay. Yukiko's up next!"
Naoto grabbed one of the movies from the stack. Unlike the others this one is a VHS with a white sleeve. "Where'd you get this, Yukiko? It's blank and there's no title."
"It was at the inn. We used to rent out movies before upgrading to DVDs."
"A VHS? Whoa. I haven't seen one of those in a while. Nobody watches those anymore." Yosuke said.
"Let's see what's on it."
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Kanji set up a dusty old VHS player. Everyone leaned forward, very curious. At first it looked like a surreal black and white movie but it became clear how eerie it was. A woman was brushing her long hair and her face was distorted by the tape. Then the setting changed to people crawling uphill and writhing in pain. A garbled voice dubbed over the entire film. Lastly there's a still view of a well in the middle of a forest.
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"What the hell was that?!" Yosuke paled. An icy uneasy sensation clung to their necks. Paranoia saturated the air dense as fog –or the depths of the sea.
"Frolic in brine, goblins be thine…"
Chie jumped. She hit Yosuke with an elbow, which was standing behind her, and glared at him. "Quit it! That's not funny!"
"I didn't say anything!"
"Wait. Did we all hear that?" Naoto's smart gaze swept the room.
"We all heard that," Yu confirmed.
"Teddie. Does this have anything to do with shadows and the Other World?" Rise asked. Her voice wavered fearfully.
"No. I've never seen anything like this before."
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"Did the inn staff say anything about the tape?" Kanji asked.
Yukiko shook her head. "Not much. One of them said some teenagers left it years ago back when they stayed there. I think…they were traveling around Japan on a trip. No one ever came back for it."
Naoto sipped her drink thoughtfully. "Looks like we have a mystery."
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They replayed the tape. This time the film changed. At the end dark hair appeared just above the well. Slowly, scarily slow, a girl climbed out of the well. Long locks fell past her waist, obscuring any clear view of her face.
Yosuke dropped his drink. "Guys? That wasn't on the tape before!"
"She seems almost…aware." Naoto observed.
The unknown girl dressed in white took a step. Then another. She made her way towards them. The background vanished as she took up the whole frame.
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And much like Yu, their leader, she stepped out of the TV. Everyone screamed. The girl collapsed and her body is sprawled out like a spider's. Black hair pooled around her pale frame. She moved like the shadows they encountered in the Other World. The girl crawled before standing up.
Yu drew his sword and lunged.
An inky eye glimpses out from parted hair, waving menacingly. Yu's sword goes flying and scrunches when it hit the wall. It's a useless weapon now.
"Who are you?" It's a miracle that his voice didn't shake fearfully. Yu, levelheaded as he is, was scared of this unknown adversary.
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The girl doesn't respond. She's as silent as a ghost town. A few heartbeats of tense silence pass and she lifts up her arm. Slowly she paints her name on the wall. With blood? Probably blood.
"Sa…do…ko. Sadoko?" Yosuke asked.
"Why does that name sound familiar?" Naoto wondered.
Yukiko clapped her hands and smiled warmly. "Want to join us for movie night?"
"What?! She's an evil spirit, dude! Sadoko is gonna kill us!" Yosuke cried.
Kanji measured her height with a hand hovering above her head. "She's like a scarier Nanako."
"I say we let her join movie night!" Rise jumped up and down.
"You guys have lost your minds!" Yosuke narrowed his eyes at his friends. "And that's saying a lot. I'm usually not the voice of reason."
"I'd be terrified if I wasn't so curious. This is a real paranormal mystery!" Naoto said. "Do other dimensions besides the Midnight Channel exist?"
Yu shrugged, thankful that they were all still alive.
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Rise hummed happily as she restored Sadoko's weathered nails with fresh polish. The girl seemed calm, fixated on the horror movie playing. Yu gave her a soda with a straw. The straw stabbed through dark locks. Kanji knitted her a comfy-looking hat. It was a cute. Pastel colors and stitched with felt to mimic a cat's ears and whiskers. Naoto lost interest in the movies and instead noted everything about Sadoko's telepathic and psychic abilities in a notebook. How could a girl be trapped in a movie? Why did she have these powers? How did she travel through to this world?
After all the movies were over, Sadoko vanished through the TV. Yosuke sighed, clutching his chest. "We're not dead! I totally thought Sadoko was going to kill us!"
"I guess scary spirits like movie nights too," Yu said.
