Author's note: The song featured in this part of the story is 100% my own composition - and it's only in part in this particular chapter since it's beginning in medias res: song featured prominently is called "Song to Fly". When the rest of this story is posted, I'll post the complete set of lyrics. There are a few songs featured that I've written in the course of this story, and they'll be printed in full at the end. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 3: Noise

"Come on, Alvin, you really don't believe this has anything to do with Melina's fortune, do you?"

"Of course it does! And if it happened to you two, then it's definitely going to happen to me." Alvin pointed out, his expression worried.

"But I thought Melina's fortune said something about a bell ringing when Simon got his bright idea?" Theodore said. "That's not the same, is it?"

"Well...this is probably just coincidence, but the phone did ring from the head project manager downtown - when he heard the idea, he was very enthusiastic. Said it would be very good since it fits right in with what's popular with music right now. Matter of fact, I think that's the reason why they rushed it."

"That's not coincidence!" Alvin shouted, exasperated, sinking down in his chair.

"Alvin, you're being ridiculous." Simon noted.

"But you gotta admit, it's really weird how all of this is going on."

"Well then, you tell me, Theodore - what do you think it is?"

"I-I don't really know..." Theodore trailed off, looking down to the floor.

"Look, why don't we just focus on practicing the song and talk about this later? Besides, we've gotta finish recording a demo before the end of the day. Dave already says he wants your voice for it, Alvin. And I think you can do it."

"I guess we should then...so much for my idea." Alvin said, picking up his guitar and beginning to strum it as Simon showed them the lyrics and the melody he'd penned.

***

"...I don't wanna be anywhere else,

but it tears me apart from you.

I can't play this game for life

If it's just between us two.

Tryin' to find somewhere to be

Other than in this cage

That's why I want you to see me

Lighting up the stage!

I will go on, and set the day

Playin' my own way -

I feel the fire lighting up my heart

Playin' what I wanna say!

Don't you go on, tellin' me not to try

I know that I can get by

Cause there's nothing tearin' me apart

That's why it's my song - my song to fly." ***

As the recording ended, Alvin, Simon and Theodore wrapped up the session.

"That sounded great, boys! We'll see what the studio says later about the demo. I'll have to make sure the recording checks out and I'll send it out before I leave for the evening. I have the limo already outside waiting to take you home . I don't want you three walking out while its dark. The recording session lasted much longer than I expected, with the Chipettes using the same studio." Dave seemed exhausted, but excited about the opportunity.

As Alvin, Simon, and Theodore climbed into the limo, Simon let out the breath he'd been holding for a little while.

"What a day. That must have been the quickest recording session I've ever been through."

"No kidding. I'm exhausted. And hungry too." Theodore rubbed his stomach gently.

"Even with all the pizza you ate earlier, you're still hungry?"

"Well, yeah, aren't you too?"

"Not really. How about you, Alvin?"

Alvin looked over the passing buildings and city lights as they whirled by in streams of color, and in one part of his mind, he thought about incorporating it into the song that he was trying to pen. In another, he was wondering what Melina's fortune had to do with him.

"Alvin!" Simon's shout broke him from his thoughts.

"What?"

"Don't tell me you're still worrying about Melina's fortune." Simon said sharply.

"I can't help it! If you were the one who got a bad fortune and somehow everyone else around you had good ones that came true, what would you do?"

"I wouldn't be lamenting it, because the probability of it happening is very slim."

"Yeah, you would because you think about things like probability. Meanwhile, in the real world - it's freaky! Come on, Theodore, help me out. There's no way you can't tell me something weird's going on."

"Maybe...but I don't know, Alvin. If it was going to happen, it would have happened by now, right?"

"I don't know. And Simon, you've written better songs with your eyes closed."

"Come on, it's not bad. We just have to record it through the whole way. We only did a partial demo. I think we did fine considering it was last minute."

"I know my song could've came out better...if only I had the chance."

"What song?" Simon asked, puzzled.

"You should have heard it, Simon. Alvin sounded really good."

"It's still in the works. I don't get it. I don't get blocked this much when I'm writing usually."

"Maybe you're just having an off-day." Theodore noted to Alvin, while Simon groaned.

"More like he's having an off-day because he's worrying about something that will never happen."

"Fine. Be that way." Alvin noted, and didn't say anything the rest of the way home.

***

The little wind up clock on his night stand read 2:30, and he knew that everyone was already asleep. Even Simon had his usual, though occasional snore, but even on his best nights, Alvin slept through it.

"I've gotta stop worrying about this. Theodore was right, if nothing's happened by now, then maybe nothing will. Maybe Simon was right too...but there's no way I'm telling him that!"

Alvin settled down, pressing the side of his face into the pillow when he suddenly heard a scratching noise from above him.

"What was that...?" Alvin hid his face beneath the covers, looking upward towards the ceiling. The scratching sound started subdued, but started gaining momentum.

"Simon, Simon, wake up! You can't tell me that you can't hear that!" Alvin tried to wake Simon, but Alvin had to duck to keep Simon from hitting him in his sleep.

"Okay...there's no getting Simon up when he's sleeping. And Theodore could wake the dead running away from a noise like that. Okay, Alvin, you've got to figure out where it's coming from. Easier said than done though...heh heh..."

Alvin opened the door slightly ajar and walked through the hallway to the direction of the sound. He could tell it was more or less from the attic, but he didn't know where it was coming from, the sound kept moving around frantically, scratching and something of a low groan.

"Okay...that definitely doesn't sound good." Alvin found the path to the attic, slowly walking up the stairs as if to not make a lot of noise going up as he did. At one point he bristled at the sound of a creaking step - then realized it was only of his own doing, and sighed before starting up the stairs again.

He opened the attic door, and saw nothing but the usual windows and arrangement of old furniture and boxes around. Walking steadily in bedroom slippers, he searched for a nearby flashlight, and found one - but dimly lit the way. The usual pull lamp in the attic wasn't working for some reason, and Alvin thought the bulb had blown - they hadn't been up there in a little while.

"I should've just brought one from my room. Note to self: never leave into a dark area without a good flashlight. Every good adventurer and monster specialist needs one."

A creak sent a bristle up Alvin's spine, and he shined the light over to the direction he heard the sound, but saw nothing but a bunch of old drapes folded in the corner.

"Ugh, at least that scratching noise is gone." But as soon as Alvin noted it, the scratching rang loudly in his ears, and at a furious intensity that seemed to be approaching him from behind.

He turned, just in time to see a shadow darting among the crates, and toward him at a furious speed, causing him to drop the flashlight, as it rolled over the wooden floor.

"Whoa!"

***

Simon and Theodore were awakened by what sounded like Alvin yelling, startling them both awake.

"Alvin, for the last time, go back to sleep. It was probably just a nightmare - like you haven't had your share already. I mean with the mummy, the werewolves, Dracula, you've gotta come up with something more original..."

"Simon, I don't think he's here..." Theodore looked over at Alvin's empty bed, upturned sheets and missing bedroom shoes.

Simon put on his glasses and found himself able to focus, turning on the bedside lamp.

"Where the heck did he go?"

"I don't know, but it sounded like his voice came from the attic or the roof."

"I hope you're joking."

"Alvin, you really need to stop watching monster movies before bedtime...we've been over this a million times..." Dave came into the the room while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He was dressed in his usual striped pajamas and had his dark hair tousled, though not as bad as it usually looked when he was startled awake by a nightmare Alvin had. But when he looked at Simon and Theodore, he realized Alvin was missing.

"Okay you two, what's going on?" Dave said sternly.

"We don't know, we just woke up." Simon explained. "We thought we heard Alvin's voice from the attic, or the roof."

"What's Alvin doing at this hour? It's almost 3:00 in the morning!" Dave grumbled, but made his way to the attic. Theodore and Simon looked at each other confused, but followed Dave to the attic.

"Alvin, I hope you have a perfectly good explanation for being up here so late, and for not even turning a light on, either..." Dave tried the switch to the attic, but found it was dead.

"That's strange, I'm sure that I just replaced this bulb - it must be shorting out. This house has been around for so many years, it's due for rewiring." Dave sighed, but shook his head of the tangent. "Alvin? Are you up here?"

The room was eerily quiet - almost as if no one had stepped into it for a long time.

"Alvin? Come on, if you're up here and you're hiding, this isn't funny. Whoa!" Dave found himself slipping on something underneath his feet in the darkness, and went tumbling to the floor, just as Simon and Theodore reached the top of the staircase.

"Dave, are you okay?" Theodore was the first one to reach him, helping him to sit up on the wooden floor.

"I'm fine, Theodore. I just tripped on something. It's hard to see in here when the light's not working." Dave looked to see what he tripped on, and grasped it in his hands. "But at least I did find the flashlight. Wait a minute...it's warm. That means it was just used not long ago. Alvin must have been up here. I don't understand why he isn't answering me."

"Well, I think this is also proof he was up here." Simon pulled what seemed to be Alvin's bedroom shoes from a nearby corner of crates.

Dave rose to his feet. "I'm going to check outside and see if he might be out there. You two stay in the house - and if anything's wrong, or if you see Alvin, you let me know the minute it happens, understand?"

"Yes, sir." Simon and Theodore said in unison, as he walked out of the room.

"Well, if Alvin wanted to be in trouble, he's certainly in it right now. Big trouble." Simon noted bluntly.

"I don't know, Simon. I'm worried. What if Melina was right? What if Alvin's really..." Theodore made an audible gulp, his eyes widening at the fears his mind was running through. His biggest fear involved Alvin being eaten by a big shadow monster, and Simon could read Theodore's expression to know exactly what he was thinking.

"Not you too, Theodore." Simon groaned.

"Think about it, though. I won my hundred dollars this morning, you had your big idea for a song this afternoon, and now Alvin goes missing at night. It happened in almost the same day."

"Well...It does seem strange that it happened in the same window of 24 hours, but I think Alvin might be perpetuating some of this stuff on himself."

"Per-what?"

Simon shook his head. "I mean that Alvin has an active imagination, and he might just be overdoing it! Wherever he is, he'd better get back here soon - but I don't think Dave will be too happy about it either way."

***

Alvin felt a cold breeze blow against his face, stirring him awake. His head ached a little and he felt annoyed just before opening his eyes.

"Last time I felt like this, Theodore tried to throw a toy truck at a box, missed, and hit me in the head instead! Oww..."

"Alvin! Alvin, where are you?!"

Alvin's eyes snapped open. "Dave? I wonder why he's calling me? Last thing I remember was being in the attic, searching what whatever that sound was...and then that shadow...wait just a minute." His brow furrowed, and he began to look around his surroundings. But when he realized where he was, he let out a gasp.

"H-how the heck did I get on the roof?!"

"Alvin?!"

"Dave! Help!" Alvin grabbed onto the closest corner of the roof, hoping he wouldn't fall. He looked down to where the other angles of the rest of the roof were, and wondered how he managed to get where he was. He wasn't near any of the windows, and the slope of the roof was too steep to climb. Not only that, he realized that he was missing his bedroom shoes.

He opened his eyes long enough to see Dave searching frantically in the front yard.

"Up here!" Alvin shouted, and Dave turned around and looked upward.

"Alvin, what are you doing there?!"

"You know, I'd really like to tell you, but it's kind of impossible because I don't have any idea how I got up here or how to get down. Well, I could think of one way down, but I don't think I wanna go that way. Whoa!" Alvin felt his grip starting to slip.

"Hang on, I'm coming!" Dave shouted, but gasped as Alvin's grip went loose and he started sliding down the tiles. He ran just in time to hold out his hands as Alvin fell straight, like a rock, into his torso. Both of them hit the ground, and Alvin stirred first, shaking his head.

"Are you okay, Dave?"

Dave opened his eyes and coughed a little, sighing in exasperation, but returning to a firm voice as he sat up and lifted Alvin gently by the shoulders. "Out of breath, but fine. You're lucky that ended where it could have been something much worse. Now we're going inside and you're going to tell me exactly what happened."

"That's what I'd like to figure out." Alvin noted, prompting a confused expression on Dave's face.