Author's Note: Thanks for the comments/reviews for those of you who have posted so far. I definitely appreciate them. "Alvin's Ghost" should be wrapping up within the next few chapters or so. I still have some formatting and minor edits to do to the remaining chapters, so it's only as I have the time to do them.

Chapter 8: Ghost in My Room

Alvin and Theodore had their chance to talk to Melina after the Chipettes had finished their chatter - presumably good, considering all three of them loved Melina's company. Brittany was a little freaked out by Melina's tendency to use the third person, but after a while, she didn't mind the oddity.

For a moment, Alvin thought Brittany had forgotten about their argument earlier, until she haughtily turned her head away from him. "Don't think this lets you off the hook, mister!"

Alvin groaned, taking a seat in front of Melina's desk, while Theodore pulled up a nearby chair to sit beside Alvin. Eleanor and Jeanette continued to sit at the table. Melina turned towards Theodore and Alvin, giving them a small smile.

"Would you like Melina to read your fortunes again?"

"No, thank you. We...have to be somewhere..." Theodore started to respond.

"Oh no! Rehearsal!" Eleanor exclaimed, taking notice of the time by a wall clock that hung not far from where they stood.

Alvin laughed nervously, swallowing a lump in his throat at the thought of Dave shouting at them out of the range of producers that were waiting for them. "Just a few more questions...though we're gonna be in trouble no matter how long we take from here on out."

"Allow Melina to use her powers - that way you don't waste more time than you need."

Alvin couldn't mask the confusion on his face as the fortune teller held his hands, palms upward.

"Melina can hear the questions in your mind, if you only concentrate. Melina will tell you what she knows, if the spirits allow her to do so. Close your eyes, and allow your mind to be free - so the questions can come to Melina clearly."

Alvin agreed silently, not fearful, but uncertain about the whole thing. In a way, he thought it was exciting - because he'd never met a mind reader before. He could hear Melina giggling for a moment, and Alvin was suddenly aware that she heard his last thought.

"Concentrate." She reminded him softly, and he focused his thoughts. All of his questions came to the surface of his mind, like bubbles fizzling to the top of a glass of soda. After a long pause, she released his hand.

"All right, you can open your eyes now."

When Alvin did so, Melina's expression seemed a little more even - not with the usual bright smile that she showed him, but more firm and poised in her chair.

"Melina will tell you what she knows. The friend you seek will be in the attic by the moonlight, same time as the night before - but you will not be the only one to see her this time. You should not be alone in your journey - Melina warns you now - the way is dangerous as the red moon approaches. The ones you call riders are a group known as the Hanti."

Theodore and the Chipettes turned their attention fully to Melina, as she continued the story noted in her response to Alvin. While the Chipettes weren't aware of what was going on, they found themselves intrigued by the story.

"Long ago, the Hanti were a tribe that lived beneath the earth. They were not human, since humans need air to breathe, but they were not spirits either. They decided that they were tired of the darkness, and started digging tunnels to the surface, stealing the horses and livestock from the farmers who worked the land above, so they could see and conquer more of the world above ground. The farmers feared the Hanti, since the Hanti wore masks that were meant to scare their prey and shield their faces from the sun. At first, it was easy for the Hanti to steal what they wanted, but the farmers decided to stop them. The farmers called upon a tribe of wanderers, called the Ilreitas. They commanded a powerful magic to not only send away the Hanti, but robbed their souls from their bodies, to prevent them from returning to the surface. Ever since then, the Hanti have been working to regain their place on the earth, and vowing revenge not only against the Ilreitas, but also humans.

"They did return to the mortal world once before, during Colonial times in the Americas. They disguised themselves as humans, still bearing the masks they had worn before during the red moon. But then...the Hanti were sent away by the witches and mystics of the time, bound yet again with their spirits stolen again. But the ones named as witches, mystics, and fortune tellers, were killed during the Salem Witch Trials. Now...there are few of us left, and very few who believe the tales we tell. Our powers - Melina's power - cannot hold them. There is something...something that allows them to cross the bridge between the spirit and human worlds. But you...your belief in the improbable, even the impossible, allows you to see the bridge. And you may find what will break the bridge for them."

"Melina cannot say why they need souls or what their powers are. All Melina knows is that by the next red moon, the Hanti will walk the earth, and try to take it away from the humans."

"Wow..." The Chipettes, Alvin, and Theodore said simultaneously.

"S-so, Alvin can see ghosts and the portals and stuff...because he believes in them?"

"Yes, young Theodore. It is also the reason why you and young Simon saw the portal that took young Alvin just last night, but you didn't see the ghost because you didn't believe in her."

"So Anilie really is a ghost..." Eleanor trailed off.

"W-what?!" Brittany stated, surprised. "So, the girl that Alvin was talking about earlier..."

"...Is a ghost in my attic. I was trying to tell you." Alvin cast a sideways glance at Brittany with annoyance leaking into his voice.

Brittany blushed, but shook her head and recovered quickly. "W-well, I was wrong, then. I guess you're off the hook this time, Alvin. But I still don't know who this Anilie is."

"I don't think we'll be on time, even if we left now..." Jeanette observed, changing the subject.

"Better a little late than very late, but I don't think our manager will mind that much - we're technically done for the day. Though I'd hate to think of what Dave will say, since you boys still have a song to record." Brittany said.

"Don't remind me." Alvin rolled his eyes. "Thanks for everything, Miss Melina!" He called, as all of them started running out the door.

"Good luck, young ones! Melina wishes you all well!" She called after them, smiling softly, but her smile faded slowly with the worry that bubbled inside her.

***

Later that evening, Alvin, Simon and Theodore arrived home. Dave had been a little worried that Alvin and Theodore had been late, but the driver was nice enough to cover for them on behalf of the traffic, which made them about 15 minutes late. It went smoothly, though Alvin was vexed that the panel didn't want to hear the ideas behind his song, not to mention he hadn't had much time to work on it between school work, recording, and dealing with the oddities that Anilie's visit had provided.

Alvin sat on his bed, reading through the monster book he'd ordered from an oddball mystic company a few months before. "Hey, look! Miss Melina's story about the Hanti's listed here - I guess if we knew who they were earlier, they would have been easier to find. Sure could have saved us a lot of time and trouble." He scowled and closed the book.

"What's wrong, Alvin?" Theodore asked, looking up from his desk while he made a few drawings for his art class homework. "Are you still mad about the producers not considering your song?"

"I don't really have a song to show them, but at least they could have heard my ideas." Alvin said, with a pout on his lip. "I know it could be a better single than the one Simon did. I just know it."

"Maybe you should try to work on it tonight."

"I dunno. Not only that, we've gotta think of a way to get into the attic without Dave noticing." He said, slapping a fist into his palm. "You got any ideas, Theodore?"

"Not really. But even if we did get into the attic, wouldn't Anilie be the only one who could take us to the realm of spirits that you went to?"

"...I kinda forgot that part of it." Alvin frowned. "Even if we wanted to help her, there'd have to be some way we could get to the other dimension. But I know one thing for sure - I'm totally trying!" His expression brightened on the latter note.

"I wanna go too, even if it is a little scary..."

"Atta boy, Theodore! Now you're talking!"

"I don't know if I should be that excited about it though..." Theodore said, with a fearful expression.

"What are you two talking about now?" Simon said as he entered the room, carrying a few of his books from school.

"Just your average stuff about ghosts and ghouls and stuff like that." Alvin said casually.

"Then I'm not interested. And I hope you two aren't going to try to get back in the attic tonight. Besides, Dave locked it up for now."

"He what?" Alvin and Theodore said at the same time.

"You heard me. He really doesn't want us going up there. But it's not like I want you to go up there either. I don't care if Anilie does come tonight - you're not going, Alvin. Somebody's gotta tell you when you're doing something stupid, and this is definitely one of those times." Simon's tone was firm and unrelenting.

Alvin scowled. "Well, it's not like I wanna go by myself, or even want to face a bunch of scary looking, soul-stealing monsters! But I promised Anilie I'd help her. She's in trouble, Simon. We're all in trouble!" Alvin shook Simon so much by the arms that his glasses fell off. Alvin looked sheepishly apologetic, but Simon's brow narrowed as he bent to feel around for his glasses.

"Remind me, when I find my glasses, to knock some sense into your head...several times!"

At that moment, the phone in the room started ringing, and Theodore rushed to pick it up. "Hello?"

"Hey Theodore! It's Eleanor - is Alvin there?"

"Yeah, he's right here. Alvin, it's Eleanor, she wants to talk to you."

Alvin took the phone from Theodore, still annoyed at Simon, but controlled his tone as he spoke. "Hey Eleanor, what's going on?"

"Alvin, Brittany says she wants to come over sometime tonight, and Miss Miller told us that we could. We wanted to know if it would be okay with you guys and Dave. Brittany said she didn't want you doing anything weird by yourself, so we want to help in any way we can."

"Wow, really? That's a first for Brittany."

"Tell me about it! She's usually not this worried, to be honest with you. But if it's okay with you guys and Dave, just let us know."

"Sure, hang on a second."

"Where are you going, Alvin?" Simon asked, as Alvin walked towards the bedroom door.

"Looks like we'll have a little more company tonight than expected." Alvin wiggled his brows mischievously, as he disappeared around the corner.

***

"I can't believe Dave said yes." Simon sighed.

As the Chipmunks and Chipettes sat around the kitchen table that night playing Blackjack, the room was quiet, and the moon shone full and with clouds streaming across the sky outside.

"Great, I'm busted." Brittany placed her hand on the table, ending up with 24. "Don't tell me you're not happy to have us here, Simon. Besides, somebody's gotta keep Alvin in line."

"Tell me about it." Simon agreed.

"Guys, cut it out." Alvin said, and cleverly curled his tongue over the side of his lip, looking at his hand, and wondering if he should draw from the deck again.

"Yeah, I think we should finish up this game, then decide what we should do next. I wouldn't mind going to sleep now...well, if we're gonna just get up again later..." Jeanette whispered the latter statement under her breath, not wanting Dave to overhear them. He checked on them often to see how they were doing, walking back and forth from his office. It was close to 10 PM, and Eleanor looked like she was about to fall asleep. Her deck had taken her out of the game a while before.

"That sounds like a good idea." Theodore agreed, holding his hand of cards carefully. "I'm staying. I've got 17."

"I've got 20! Beat that!" Alvin called confidently.

"I've got 22. Nuts." Simon grumbled.

Jeanette picked up another card. "I've got 21! Two fives and an ace!"

"Aww nuts." Alvin folded his arms across his chest, frowning at the loss.

"How are you guys doing?" Dave came in the room almost right on schedule.

"We're about to get some sleep." Simon noted pointedly.

"Well, I hope all of you have a good evening's rest. Night, ladies. Night fellas."

"Night Dave," they said before going to their respective rooms.

***

The Chipmunks and Chipettes slept for about 2 and 1/2 hours. Alvin was the first one to wake up as he heard the familiar scratches from his ceiling. They were loud and rang in his ears, startling him awake. He knew it was after midnight, but there was no way that he'd be able to sleep through the furious sounds he heard.

Simon and Theodore followed shortly after Alvin, waking up to the loud sounds that came from above their heads.

"Well, that's the same sound, only this time it seems like it's just as loud as it was when we were in the attic before." Simon observed.

Alvin leapt from his bed and slipped on his bedroom shoes. "Let's go downstairs - Brittany and the others should be up by now, if that sound woke them up like it did us."

Sure enough, the Chipettes were already downstairs, looking at the ceiling as they heard the scratching noises.

"Was it always this loud?" Brittany asked in a loud whisper.

"Definitely. It should've woken Simon and Theodore the first time I heard it. It definitely woke me up." Alvin answered in a loud whisper.

"Maybe we can try to find Dave's key to get up there?"

"No, Theodore, I'm pretty sure one of us would wake him up searching for it." Simon noted. "I guess since I'm involved in this whole thing now - I do remember there being a half open window on the side of the house to the attic."

"See, I knew Simon would think of some plan to get us there!"

"It's not like I want to, Alvin. But as usual, I don't have much choice."

"Come on guys, let's go outside and find that window, but we have to be quiet." All of them followed Alvin's lead as they went outside.

It didn't take them long to find the window, and they had to assemble their own version of a ladder, the boys standing on each others shoulders, while the girls stood atop each other. Eleanor was the first to reach inside the window - pushing the window fully open to crawl inside. She searched the attic briefly to find some old sheets to tie together and throw down for the rest of them to climb up. After all of them climbed through the window, they surveyed the attic, from which the sound continued.

"Ugh, that noise is so annoying. If that's Anilie, why does she have to make it so loud...and creepy?" Brittany said, her normal voice returning.

"She's probably trying to find the way here again." Alvin said aloud. But as he thought about it, he snapped his fingers together.

"I've got it! Maybe all she needs to find it is a hint."

"What do you mean, Alvin?" Jeanette asked.

"I get what Alvin's saying." Simon recognized. "Jeanette, tap your foot against the floor - where you're standing is right around the place where the portal appeared last night."

"O-okay, I guess I could give it a try." Jeanette tapped her bedroom slipper on the wooden floor, and stepped back quickly. The room went quiet almost immediately.

"I think it it worked...." Eleanor said in a low whisper.

But none of them expected a large circular portal to open up beneath their feet, dragging both the Chipmunks and Chipettes into the strange realm beyond.