It was night at the Bookstore and Sadie was locking the back door. "Lars! Hurry up, or I'll lock you in!" Sadie teased.

"Just a sec!" She heard Lars call. Sadie smiled and leaned against the wall. She felt someone watching and jolted in shock when she saw Connie standing right in front of her.

"Whoa, you ok? It's just me!" Connie laughed. "I'm on my way to a scary movie party, want to come?"

"Party? Who's throwing it?" Sadie asked.

"Ronaldo, Mr. Fryman's son." Connie grinned.

"Ugh! Him? Do what you want, Connie. I got better things to do than wax weird with Beach City's biggest weirdo." Sadie growled. "Ronaldo."

Lars suddenly came out and saw Connie. "Nice timing, Connie. Hey, should we head over to Ronaldo's?" Lars asked.

"I hope I don't get too scared!" Connie laughed, hugging Lars. Lars looked at Sadie then blushed. Lars and Connie started to walk away when Sadie ran after them. She then ran back and locked the door.

Sadie went between Lars and Connie and said, "Where's this thing at?"

Connie shivered and pointed to the lighthouse. "Up there…"

They were soon at the top of the hill and Ronaldo opened the door, wearing a costume. "Connie! Welcome to my Beach City horror club!" The teen said, laughing like a maniac.

"You mean comedy club?" Sadie laughed.

"S-Sadie?" Ronaldo gasped. His mask fell off and broke. "What are you doing here?"

He noticed Lars and Connie staring and said, "C-come in."

"I'm scared already." Sadie chuckled, elbowing Lars. Lars gave a high five to Ronaldo while walking in, "Nice to meet you."

Sadie walked in and then Connie. Ronaldo grabbed the girl's arm though and whispered, "You're friends with Sadie?"

"I'd like to think so." Connie smiled.

Inside, Ronaldo showed a copy of a DVD. "Our first film tonight is a rare classic that hardly needs introduction. "Evil Bear 2, Bearly Alive."

"Oh, man! That's one of the worst ones out there!" Sadie groaned. "Is it the stupid remake?"

"Of course it's not the remake!" Ronaldo huffed. "I have the original, a true fan would never accept less."

Sadie's eyes were stars. "Wait, what?! How did you get a copy of that! I want to see!" Sadie cried but Ronaldo already put in the disk.

"Will this be too much for Connie?" Lars asked.

"I can handle it!" Connie cried.

An hour later, Connie sat behind the couch, smiling. She heard the screams of the people and the evil laugh of the bear and Ronaldo peeked over at her. "Connie? Are you sure you can see the movie with the couch in your way?"

Ronaldo turned when he heard a certain line. "Oh, did I miss the part where you can see the sound guy?"

Suddenly, the lights flickered and then the power went out.

"No! That was the best part!" Sadie groaned.

"What's going on?" Lars asked.

"Probably just a fuse." Sadie shrugged, getting up.

Connie crawled out from behind the couch while Ronaldo said in a spooky voice with a flashlight, "Or maybe it's a gho-o-st?"

Lars gave a chuckle and stood. "Yeah, right."

"No, really." Ronaldo said, walking over to his desk. "As a skeptic of mortality, I've long suspected that this place might be haunted." He opened a drawer and revealed many folders and then pulled out a pendulum. "Spirit,

I beseech you!

"Oh jeez." Sadie groaned.

"We wish to make contact. Please, spirit, send us a sign." Ronaldo yelled. The pendulum suddenly started to sway back and forth, suddenly it got so strong, it flung out of the teen's hand and right into Sadie. She gave a "ow!"

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Ronaldo looked up and said, "That was a good sign! But could you send a couple more like that just to be sure?"

They heard indistinct whispering and gasped. Suddenly, the folders flung out and started swirling around them.

"That's — That's okay, spirit. You can rein it in a little!" Ronaldo laughed nervously. A coffee cup smashed next to his head and they gasped again.

"What is going on?!" Lars cried.

"How is it possible?" Connie whispered. A barrel smashed to the ground next to her and she cried out in fear.

"Look out!" Lars shouted, seeing another coffee cup coming at them. They all ducked and Lars saw a door. "Let's get out of here!"

They raced to the door and it suddenly slammed in their faces.

"It won't open!" Ronaldo cried.

They soon broke down the door and ran through, gasping for air.

"I'm so sorry! I had no idea there was this violent of a presence here." Ronaldo huffed.

"Um… that's fine." Connie shivered.

"Are you kidding me?! No, it's not!" Sadie cried. "It's not a ghost!"

"Who cares what it is?" Lars snapped. "We need to get out of here."

They all began to walk down the stairs, Sadie with Connie in the back and Ronaldo and Lars in the front.

"You looked pretty cool back there." Ronaldo said to Lars.

Lars looked up and smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah! You took charge." Ronaldo said.

"Thanks, man. When stuff gets hairy, I just keep my eyes forward, you know?"

"Once the civilians are safe, I'm gonna come back to investigate. If you wanted to help…" Ronaldo said. They both laughed.

Connie noticed Sadie was leaning forward, trying to hear them. "Um, are you okay?"

Sadie shushed her and covered her mouth.

They suddenly heard children's laughter and froze.

"What's that?" Lars whispered.

"Oh, it's nothing! We're all just hearing things and seeing things and feeling things that aren't real." Sadie growled, shoving between the new friends. They walked to the ajar door but it slammed open, knocking her back.

Scarecrows and bats started attempting to come through the door and Lars and Ronaldo attempted to shut the door. A scarecrow managed to slip past them and ran to Sadie, attempting to hurt her. Connie gasped and it ran after Sadie. Connie chased

after the scarecrow that was quick to grab Sadie by her shirt. Connie gave a yell and tackled the scarecrow, pulling it away. She shoved it outside, Lars and Ronaldo shoved the door closed.

"Have you ever seen a haunting this bad?" Sadie breathed to Lars.

Much to her annoyance, Ronaldo answered. "This is no run-of-the-mill haunting! It's a poltergeist." They all looked it him confused. He rolled his eyes. "A "ghost" only haunts a house. A poltergeist haunts a person! They're usually

attracted to the terrifying inner world of the emotionally disturbed." He shone his flashlightat Sadie and she frowned. She started to sweat.

"You think stuff is coming after me?! How can you listen to this...weird guy?!" Sadie stomped up to Ronaldo. "He practically lives in a haunted house. Don't you think maybe he had something to do with it?"

"I think you should stop being so rude." Connie frowned.

Sadie gave a groan of frustration and turned to Lars. "Lars, you're not a idiot."

"Hey!" Ronaldo and Connie cried, Connie thinking to herself, I read more in an hour then she probably does in a day!

"Do you believe all of this?!" Sadie asked, gripping Lars' shoulder.

"I…"

"All this stuff— They've gotta be doing it somehow. We've gotta ditch these guys. Come on." Lars' nervous smile faded and he slowly backed away. "I'm not ditching anyone."

"But what about me, huh?!" Sadie cried. "Lars! C'mon, you always—"

Suddenly, the floorboards started to glow red benteh Lars and opened up. Lars saw red light bellow him and cried out. Sadie gasped and reached her hand out but it was too late. It swallowed him up.

"Lars?!" Sadie gasped while Connie and Ronaldo ran to the floor with her, frantically looking.

"The spirit took him!" Ronaldo looked up and glared at Sadie. "You're gonna drag us all down with you! Don't you even care?!"

Sadie suddenly looked up when she heard Lars call her name and a hatch opened up.

"The basement…" Ronaldo whispered.

The teens walked down the steps that were illuminated by red light.

"I don't see him anywhere!" Sadie cried.

"Spirit, show yourself!" Ronaldo shouted, looking around.

Connie's hand grazed the wall and then she flattened her hand on it. "It's close…" She whispered. "I can feel it. It's hurting and... obsessed."

They then turned and saw a pulsing flesh-like structure which had Sadie's name carved in it.

"It should have been you." Ronaldo hissed, glaring at Sadie. Sadie slowly backed away. "It took him, but it should've been you, Sadie!"

Connie attempted to push the two apart. "Whoa. H-hold on, Ronaldo."

Suddenly, the thing pulsed louder, and louder. A mouth formed and Ronaldo grabbed Sadie.

"Put me down!" Sadie cried.

Connie ran in front of Ronaldo, clear worry in her face. "Wait! Stop! What are you doing?"

Ronaldo ignored her, raising Sadie above his head. "Spirit, I deliver the package of darkness! Return to us Lars!"

The mouth opened wider.

"Please! Ronaldo, we used to be friends!" Sadie cried.

"And you threw me away!" Ronaldo yelled, throwing Sadie into the monster.

Connie took no time thinking, just reacted. She ran into the mouth, ignoring Ronaldo yelling, "Connie, no! She's not worth it!"

"Why does everything bad happen to me?" Sadie groaned. Connie grabbed her wrist and tried to get them out but the monster's sharp teeth were only held up by a pipe that soon broke. Connie and Sadie gasped and Ronaldo shielded his

eyes.

Connie made a bubble around her and Sadie and they flung out, hitting the ground with grunts.

The monster exploded, leaving in the ruble Lars and a blue gem.

"Lars!" They all gasped.

Connie noticed the gem and picked it up. It glowed brightly, making the people shield their eyes.

Lars stood and watched the gem project a young boy with curly blond hair and glasses walking in the Lighthouse with a box.

"This is the perfect clubhouse for the Beach City Explorer Club!" The boy laughed.

A young girl with light blond hair grinned. "Secret clubhouse, right, Ronnie?" The girl made zipping motions and the boy laughed.

Connie giggled a little and Sadie gave a groan.

"Sadie, you're a riot!"

They all were surprised and saw the boy must've been Ronaldo.

Young Ronaldo was about to take a picture when he heard scraping. He turned to see young Sadie carving her name in the wall. Sadie blushed and laughed. "Just carving our names in! Cool, huh?"

Suddenly, the house rumbled. Young Sadie frowned and a board hit the girl in the face. Ronaldo snapped a picture and smiled. "Holy smokes! The clubhouse is possessed!"

Young Sadie gave a groan and Ronaldo ran up. He showed her the picture of her getting hit in the face. "When you turn on the TV tomorrow, this is what's gonna be on every station!"

Sadie started to sweat as she held the photo. "B-b-but—But you said this was secret!" She stuttered.

"Our first paranormal discovery! We're gonna take on the world together!" Ronaldo whispered, eyes shinning. Sadie frowned. She started to tearing herself out.

"No! What are you doing?!" Young Ronaldo cried, running over. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"I'm just tearing myself out." Sadie struggled out.

"Stop!" Ronaldo grabbed her wrist and took the photo away. It fell apart in his hands. "What'd you do? Oh!" Ronaldo moaned softly.

"Oh, come on. Ronnie, you know I can't let people see me like that." Sadie whispered.

"What?! What's the matter with you?!" Ronaldo yelled, pushing Sadie. "Don't you know how important this was?!"

Sadie shoved him back, clearly a tomboy.

"Aah! Why do you care so much about what other people think?!"

"You wouldn't say that if you knew what other people say about you!" She knocked him down and ran away.

Young Ronaldo looked up. "Sadie?"

The projection went back in the gem and Connie petted it in comfort. "Shh… It's okay, I got you. When you were stuck in the wall, was the house like your body? You must have felt like you were under attack back when Sadie carved her name

in you.."

"Can I see that?" Ronaldo whispered.

"Uh, sorry." Connie blushed, bubbling the gem away. "We should let it rest."

"So, all that lashing out was just from feeling hurt and trapped for so long…" Lars murmured.

"I didn't mean to rip it up, okay? You can stop talking about me now." Sadie blushed.

"Oh, Lars, are you okay?" Ronaldo asked.

Lars smiled. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine."

"Oh, yeah." Sadie chuckled. "We were both worried about— I mean, I ran down here faster."

"Can we get out of here?" Lars asked.

"Lars, you can come with me. I think these two have a lot to talk about." Connie smiled.

"I bet." Lars laughed.

The two past friends watched them walk upstairs and looked at each other.