"Here goes nothing..." I turned on the television and the VCR. "Looks like the only way I'll get you to talk to me is if I watch your tape..."

I put the tape into the VCR and listened to the mechanical whirring as it set up the film inside. I fidgeted and wrung my hands. What if after all my obsessing and work, it doesn't do anything...? What if she just kills me in 7 days, and I never know anything more? The screen flickered. I felt so much doubt squirming at the pit of my stomach, like a handful of worms. What if she doesn't care about who I am or what I had done to get here? What if it was all meaningless? It flickered again. What had I been doing for the past 6 months...

I heard keys in the door. I looked, then the screen came alive to a large white ring. My hand shot out and ejected the tape, just as the door opened.

"Hey! You're back!" my girlfriend walked in, dropping her bag.

I smiled at her. I had been away for a few days, driving up to meet Rachel. She walked over and kissed my head. Her eyes were bright blue, her skin so very pale, piercings on her eyebrows and ears, and she was always in some form of black. She had gone through this thing where she wanted to shave her head, but I think she's gotten over it by now, since she started letting her hair grow back in a short soft fuzz. And she was happy to see me. I leaned up and kissed her cheek. I had missed her more than I thought I would.

"Hey, you." I smiled.

"Getting ready to watch somethin'?" She rubbed my shoulders a little. I looked down at the tape in my hands...I looked up at her.

"It's for the reports I've been tooling around for. Y'know." I shrugged. I had told her the nature of my short vacations were for a class. No sense in telling her about the tape -now-. She's so non-superstitious, she'd watch the damn thing just to prove me wrong anyway. "It's something I've gotta watch alone."

"Aaah, I gotcha." She kissed me, and ran a hand through my hair. Then skipped off to the kitchen. I -did- feel guilty about lying to her. But it was for the best...she doesn't need to get involved in this. I watched her through the small window to our kitchen in our apartment.

We had been together for about 4 years now...I tucked my hair behind my ears. For awhile, I didn't understand -why- we had been together for so long. When we weren't living together, we hardly saw eachother. I was virtually dating a stranger. I didn't know her favorite foods, her favorite colors, I couldn't remember her birthday, the names of her family members, and she couldn't say much for me either. Then, we started living together. And we figured out just how much we didn't know about eachother, and how much two people can actually drive eachother crazy. Women weren't meant to live together. Throw romance in there, and it's a living hell in two and a half rooms.

Maybe I should introduce myself now. My name is Aurora. Yes, I live with a girl and she's my girlfriend. She's my first and only girlfriend, and I'm starting to wonder if I belong in a relationship in either sex, considering how great this one's going. With guys, I seem to be a magnet for America's Most Wanted, stalkers, and sociopathic neo nazis. Maybe I should lay off relationships for a while, if Katelyn and I don't kill eachother before we break up. In a way. It was easier when we didn't know eachother. When every moment together was like a gift. When we used to talk about having kids and getting married. Then we moved in. The good times are great. But the bad times are like getting teeth pulled. It won't be long now, I think. We've been sleeping in seperate rooms, trying to avoid eachother. It was always cold inside...always blue. Sometimes...I still wonder what would have happened if we adopted kids or something.

I looked down at the tape...maybe I could go watch it in the bedroom while she was in the kitchen. I stood up and adjusted my skirt, looking at the black thing in my hands. I had to make sure Kate wasn't going to see it...

The phone rang. I stared at the extention in the kitchen window. I hadn't watched it. I saw the first few seconds, just -barely-. Maybe you didn't need to watch the whole thing or something...Kate answered it. Some friend of hers from work. I headed into the bedroom and turned on the television. Knowing how long her phone conversations are, I probably had some time. I looked at the tape. This was my last chance to back out and forget the whole thing. It was the -worst- time to try to do this; I was behind in my classes, my parents were comming to town to try and accept the fact I have a girlfriend with whom I'm breaking up with very soon, I lost my job so I need to find another one, and now I was trying to communicate with a little dead girl through a video tape.

How hella crazy does THAT sound...? I looked up at the television. Just how much did I -really- want to do this...? How did I know I wasn't going to die in seven days...? How did I know I -was-? Was I leading myself on, or was Rachel Keller the real deal? I heard from a few people that she was perfectly insane...The whole thing was just one big chainletter. A hoax, started by some kid named Yoichi Asakawa in Japan...maybe I should just give the tape away...find a video store somewhere and stick it there. Get back to my hum-drum life as it slowly crumbles away...something caught my eye. I looked down in my lap...

The dark eyes of Samara Morgan stared at me through her little picture.

I had left that in my bag.

My bag was on the floor by the television in the livingroom.

How did it get here.

And why were both of her eyes staring at -me-. She was looking to the -left- before.

...Oh, God...

"...Okay, Samara..." I picked up the picture and the tape. "...Okay." I turned on the VCR and put the tape in. I moved to the edge of the bed, staring down at the little girl in the photograph. I touched the semi-slick finish to it...the television flickered.

I looked up to see a shining ring of light.

And the video began.

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R&R please! I'd like to know how this is turning out.