Chapter Three

Well, that had been a waste of time.

Tommy dumped his backpack by the door and flipped on the lights, scowling at nothing in particular as he walked back into his room alone. Despite her father's assurance that she was free to leave whenever she wished, Kimi had kept making excuses to keep the group at the Java Lava. A few hours and six green apple and strawberry smoothies later it was getting dark, and Chas and Betty had forbidden their children from going anywhere but home.

Now Tommy was going to have to wait until tomorrow to show the girls the movie, which meant another full day of watching them fawn over Bean. The thought turned his stomach more than he cared to admit.

He sat down on the edge of his bed, noticing for the first time that his movie was not where he left it and that the tiny lights indicated his VCR was running. Curious, he went over to take a closer look, resting on his knees in front of the TV. He withdrew the video and realized with alarm that someone had placed a piece of tape over the hole left by the erasure prevention tab. Even worse, the tape appeared to be fully rewound, almost as if it had been completely recorded over and spat back out.

Slightly panicked, he shoved the tape back in the VCR, hit play, and turned on the television. The screen flickered from black to static as Tommy nervously looked on. To his dismay, a fuzzy copy of a TV movie he only vaguely recognized began to play instead of his horror film. He desperately pressed the fast forward button, watching with growing horror as the images rushed by until the tape finally clicked to a stop.

His movie was gone; completely ruined. He ejected the tape and stared at it numbly. Of all his films why did something have to happen to this one? He'd been so proud of it, and the whole experience had meant so much to him. His thumb brushed against the sticky tape as his grief quickly gave way to an escalating rage. This had been no accident.

Tape in hand, he stormed out into the hallway, desperate for someone to blame. He thrust Dil's door open and held up the video angrily. "Dil! Did you even realize what this was?"

Dil, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by a circle of various junk for reasons Tommy was sure he did not want to know, looked up in surprise and started to speak.

"My horror movie from Camp Everwood!" Tommy cut him off by answering his own question; he wasn't in the mood to hear any of his brother's ridiculous theories. "And now it's totally destroyed!"

"Wait—you're accusing me?"

"You and Mom and Dad were the only ones here! And who else would tape Aliens in America?"

"Me support Hollywood's exploitation of my alien brethren? Ha!" Dil laughed for a moment and then turned serious, locking eyes with Tommy. "Seriously, T, you think I'd mess with something that important to you? Something that happens to be documented evidence of the paranormal?"

Tommy's glare slowly faded as he looked down and sighed. He knew his brother had a point, it was just easier to be angry than to accept the helplessness of the situation. "No… Sorry, D, I know you're right…"

Dil smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "No prob, bro. Don't you have another copy?"

"Yeah, of my raw footage. That weirdness with Bean only showed up on this one." Tommy stepped further into the room and leaned against the wall. "I just don't get how this could have happened…"

Anger forgotten, Dil shot up to his feet and made his way from the center of his circle to Tommy's side. "Isn't it obvious, T? My alien communications have finally paid off! This place is becoming a hub of supernatural activity!"

"…And that has what to do with my movie?"

"Ghosts from all across the world are flocking to this town as we speak!" Dil placed a hand on Tommy's shoulder and thrust out the other in a broad gesture. "Can you even imagine how many of our undead brothers and sisters are surrounding us right now?"

"So let me get this straight," said Tommy, arching an eyebrow. "You think ghosts—who came here looking for aliens—broke into our house and taped over my movie?"

"Of course! No offense, T, but it was kind of damaging to their reps."

Tommy shook his head, looking down at the tape in his hands sadly. "The scary thing is, at this point I almost believe you."

x x x

It couldn't possibly be real.

Though Tommy was standing in what seemed to be a forest, unnatural silence had replaced the sound of distant animals, and the scent of plant life was conspicuously absent from the air. The horizon beyond the trees blurred black, as if he was floating on an island somewhere outside of reality. No wind dared to disturb the surreal scene, but that did nothing to stop the cruel, paralyzing cold from holding Tommy in place.

He attempted to draw his arms closer for warmth, only to find they had become dead weight at his sides. Alarmed, Tommy tried to look down to investigate the problem, but quickly found that his head too was frozen in position. Terror pulsed through him as he realized he was suddenly unable to do as much as inhale. With even his eyelids beyond his control he had no choice but to stare off in front of him as he fought against whatever unseen force held him in its grasp.

A shape emerged in the distance, and Tommy instantly recognized her as the woman from his dream. This time he could see her more clearly. The moonlight appeared to echo back from her eerily pale skin, and stringy brown hair spilled over her shoulders onto a tattered white dress that seemed at least a century out of place. She held out a glowing palm as she moved forward, seemingly gliding across the forest floor.

Tommy's eyes burned with the need to blink, and soon the brightness was too much for him. His vision faded to a painful blur, leaving him blind and defenseless. Though he could no longer see the woman, he knew that the feel of the temperature plummeting around him meant she was getting closer.

"Give it back." Tommy could feel her icy breath against his face as she spoke, her words reverberating in his head long after she had stopped talking. He had no idea what this strange lady was talking about, but at that moment, he would've have given her anything she asked for just to be able to breathe again.

Knowing he couldn't last like this much longer, Tommy struggled with all his might, desperate to ease the aching of his lungs. His invisible bonds showed no mercy, refusing to relinquish control of any of his senses for even a moment.

He found it impossible to even whimper as lightheadedness began to overpower him. As his struggles finally ceased, he recognized the woman's voice distantly calling to him one last time.

"Give it back…."

Tommy shot up in bed, frantically sucking in mouthfuls of air. He could feel his heart thumping wildly against his chest as he held his hands in front of his face, amazed that he was finally able to move them.

Throwing back the blankets, Tommy climbed out of bed and wondered if he'd ever been so grateful for the simple pleasure of functioning legs. He flipped on the lights and settled himself in the chair by his desk; there was no way he was going to go back to sleep tonight. Only when he was certain he was no longer in immediate danger of suffocating did he calm down enough to reflect on what had just happened.

It had been that dream again. But worse this time—dangerous, even.

The same nightmare for the second time in as many nights. It had showed up at the same time as Bean, and Tommy was willing bet that was no coincidence. From the outdated style of clothing the mysterious woman wore, he was convinced the two were somehow connected.

And she had wanted something from him this time. Closing his eyes, he recalled her harsh whisper. "Give it back."

Tommy didn't have a clue what 'it' was, but he knew he had to find out quickly—somehow he was sure that it was the key to getting them all out of this mess.

x x x

"'Gone?'" Phil threw up his hands in frustration. "How the heck can it be 'gone?'"

Tuesday morning found the gang gathered around their usual place by the lockers as Tommy did his best to explain the unfortunate mishap with his horror movie. Phil's anger had been steadily building with every word and Chuckie seemed to be teetering even closer to the edge of a nervous breakdown than usual. Kimi and Lil merely listened, seeming strangely quiet.

"Gone as in gone, Phil." Tommy sighed. "Totally ruined."

"But how could that have happened?" asked Chuckie. "It just doesn't make sense!"

Tommy looked away. What had happened to his movie had been intentional, he was sure of it. Lil had been the last person in his room, but he couldn't bring himself to seriously consider that possibility. None of his friends could really do something like that to him, could they? Aware of their eyes on him and unsure of what to say, he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I think it serves you right, Tommy," said Lil, glaring at her friend and clutching a textbook against her chest.

"Yeah, well—" Tommy paused abruptly in mid-sentence as he realized just what she had had said. "Huh?"

"You heard me," she replied, taking a step forward to glare at him. "You wanted to use that movie to turn everyone against someone who's been going to our school for a day!"

"But I—" Tommy stuttered, his mind racing to pull together a coherent sentence. The look in Lil's eyes was vicious, even more so than her harsh words; he couldn't remember ever seeing her direct that much anger and hostility in his direction before.

"That isn't like you, Tommy," said Kimi as she stepped over to Lil's side, regarding him and the other boys with enough anger to rival her friend's. "You really got what you deserved."

With that, both girls turned their backs to the group and stomped off down the hall.

Mouth agape, Tommy could only watch them go, hopelessly wondering just what he had done to upset them. When the shock finally faded enough for him to regain some coherency, he slowly turned to the others, somewhat relieved to find that their stunned expressions mirrored his own.

"Any idea what that was all about?"

"Try livin' with her!" Phil crossed his arms over his chest with a huff. "She's been actin' completely crazy ever since yesterday!" He paused and then amended, "More than usual, even!"

"Kimi too," Chuckie moaned, bringing his hands up to his face.

Tommy looked back in the direction Kimi and Lil had hurried off in. While he had seen the girls angry plenty of times before, that sort of spiteful cruelty was simply not in their nature. Despite what they had said to him, he felt nothing but concern for them. Something was very wrong with this situation.

It seemed like Tommy's day had started horribly and was only getting worse. Narrowing his eyes, he did his best to shake it off. He might not have been able to do anything about the dreams, but nothing was going to stop him from helping his friends.

He turned back to regard Phil and Chuckie. "Okay, I think we can all agree that there is something seriously not right going on around here." The other boys locked eyes with him and nodded their agreement.

His expression fierce, Tommy smacked his fist against his open palm. "Then let's do something about it."