This chapter includes the winning horror movie voted upon by you guys! Hope you enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think! And just so you all know, I realize that there are two different endings to Paranormal Activity, but I just used the theatrical one. Also, all of the movie descriptions are not mine; they belong to Rotten Tomatoes or at least that's where I got them from. Thank you, RT! You made my life a lot easier!
As always, I own nothing!
~Mel
Sunday had flown fast for everyone at the base. Being that the weather had cooled down significantly than the day before, most of the soldiers had spent the day in bed, finding that it was easier to sleep. Because of this, the island was quiet throughout the day, even the Autobots taking the day to relax. There was a peaceful air going through the base, and everyone was enjoying it.
The lazy day was coming to a close, and it was currently 8:30 at night, and sitting in the longue on one of the larger couches were Alise, Bee in his holoform, Lennox, Wash, and Epps. Sitting behind them in his bipedal form was Ironhide. They were the only ones in the usually busy area, and the six were in complete silence.
"Sooo..." Wash said after a few moments. "What are we gonna do now?" Nobody responded. "Oh, come on! There has to be something we can do."
"Anyone up for a game of poker?" Will suggested.
"Oh, no!" Epps said immediately. "I am not playing another round of poker with her!" He pointed at Alise, who smiled wickedly. "Last time she cleaned all the money out of my pockets!"
"It's true," Alise said with a laugh. "I showed you no mercy." Epps made a mocking face at her.
"Then what else?" Wash insisted. "A movie? Is there anything we haven't watched yet?"
"We've seen every movie on this base at least three times," Lennox added. "If I have to watch Indiana Jones one more time, I think I'm going to vomit." All the humans laughed and agreed.
"Well," Epps began, "not every movie." Lennox gave him a confused look, and then realization came on his features. The two shared a knowing look as the rest of those present gave them questioning glances.
"Really," Wash said. "What movie would that be?"
Epps laughed. "Because we are the wonderful people we are, serving our country and all," Lennox and Wash laughed at this comment, "we and other service men around the world were sent preleased screening copies of certain movies coming out this year for our enjoyment. With of course the promise that none of us leak them onto the web. However, with our very limited and restricted personal computer access, they did see much of a chance of that happening."
"And when were you gonna tell us this!" Wash questioned loudly. Epps smirked evilly.
"Hey now, cool it, Wash. They only came in from the last mail call. I was getting around to it, but it honestly skipped my mind with all the excitement going on." A large smile worked its way onto his features. "Plus Lennox and I wanted first pick." Lennox broke out in mirthful laughter. Alise and Bee laughed also, and 'Hide allowed a smile to play on his metal face. Wash was the only one of the group with a frown on his face. He was honestly upset that the two didn't tell him.
"You guys suck," he told them bluntly.
"That's no way to address your commanding officer, Wash," Will said with a smirk. Wash looked at him.
"Alright. You suck, sir." Epps and Lennox then broke out in wild laughter. They'd known Wash long enough to know he didn't mean any true disrespect.
"So what are the movies?" Alise asked, also happy to hear of a change in movie titles. Epps got up from the couch and exited the longue. A few moments later, he returned with a medium sized brown box in his hands. He sat back down in his original spot and started to reopen the box. He pulled out a stack of movies and set the box on the ground. There were eight in his hand. Alise noticed there was also a letter on the top of the stack. He cleared his throat and then began to read it out loud.
"To all it may concern," Epps started. "As our way of showing thanks for your brave service to our country and fellow man, we have compiled a number of titles for your viewing pleasure that have yet to be released to the public or to DVD. All of these titles and productions are from a number of different distribution companies, all of whom give their best wishes, and thank you for your sacrifice. We hope that this small gesture will entertain all of those who deserve it the most. Thank you and God bless." When he finished he looked back up at them. "We called Morshower to make sure this was legit and no one was just sending us these to hack or network. Turns out, it's real."
"Sweet," Wash commented, his previous annoyance now gone at this excitement.
"So what are they?" Alise asked. Epps read off the titles as he sorted through them. Some of them didn't even have real covers, just printed titles and descriptions of the movies inside the cases.
"We have..." Epps started, "Zodiac, American Gangster, Walk Hard, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, The Simpsons Movie, Paranormal Activity, and 3:10 to Yuma."
"Anything sound worth watching?" Wash asked. Lennox grabbed the first one off the top of the pile and started to read the back.
"Says hear on Zodiac: 'A relentless serial killer is stalking the streets of the San Francisco Bay Area, leaving citizens locked into a constant state of panic, and baffled authorities scrambling for clues. Though the killer sadistically mocks the detectives by leaving a series of perplexing ciphers and menacing letters at the crime scenes, the investigation quickly flat lines when none of the evidence yields any solid leads. As two detectives remain steadfast in their devotion to bringing the elusive killer to justice, they soon find that the madman has control not only over their careers, but their very lives as well.' Sounds interesting."
"Who's in it?" Alise asked.
"Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr."
A large smile appeared on her face. "I vote for Mr. Downey Jr." All those present laughed at her statement, except for Bee who raised an eyebrow at her. She laughed at his expression, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. His expression turned to a smile, and he draped his arm around her shoulders in response. Wash was the next to take a movie from the pile.
"No Country for Old Men. 'Llewelyn Moss has just stumbled into the find of a lifetime. Upon discovering a bullet-strewn pickup truck surrounded by the corpses of dead bodyguards, Moss uncovers two million dollars in cash and a substantial load of heroin stashed in the back of the vehicle. Later, as an enigmatic killer who determines the fate of his victims with the flip of a coin sets out in pursuit of Moss, the disillusioned Sheriff Bell struggles to contain the rapidly escalating violence that seems to be consuming his once-peaceful Lone Star State town.' Says it stars Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin."
"Tommy Lee's pretty good," Epps said. "Any other suggestions?" Alise reached over to Epps and pulled another movie from the stack. She looked at it then started to read.
"Paranormal Activity. 'Katie and Micah are a twenty something couple who've just moved into a new home in San Diego, CA. Katie has an interest in the paranormal and believes that malevolent spirits have been following her since childhood, though Micah is not so easily convinced. However, after several nights of loud noises and strange happenings, Micah starts to agree with Katie that some sort of ghost may have followed them to the new home. After a paranormal researcher tells the couple he can't help them, Micah decides to take control of the situation and sets up a battery of video cameras so that if a spirit manifests itself, he can capture its behavior on tape.' It's not even being released in theaters yet. Says it will be played for the Screamfest Film Festival in October, but not to other public theaters."
"Alright," Wash commented. "So what'll it be? Serial killers or ghosts?"
"I'm up for a good horror movie actually," Lennox said. All the humans then nodded in agreement.
"Sounds good to me."
"Yeah, alright."
"I'll make the popcorn!" Alise darted up from her seat and ran to the dinning area.
While she was gone, Lennox turned to Ironhide, who had been almost unnoticeable the entire time.
"No snarky comments today, 'Hide?" he asked with a laugh. He grunted.
"I just find it amusing bout the excitement you humans go through prior to viewing one of your feature films," he told them. "It's slightly pathetic."
"Oh, shit!" Alise whispered quietly to the group, hiding behind the blanket in front of her. She was currently sitting on Bee's lap with her legs folded and his arms around her waist, the two close together under the blanket. Lennox, Wash, and Epps were still on the couch beside them, staring internally at the screen. Wash had the bowl of popcorn in his hands. "She's standing over him!"
The movie had been pretty good, not overly scary, but defiantly with a few parts to make them all jump. The film was quickly coming to a close, and currently, the main character Katie was standing over her boyfriend Micah as he slept, her possessed by a demon. Alise always got fidgety during parts of suspense, and she was currently strumming her fingers on Bee's arm.
"Wonder if she'll kill him," Ironhide said bluntly from behind them. The three soldiers laughed at his statement, mostly because the way he said it was as if he was asking for someone to pass him the popcorn. Hearing his words, however, Alise sank deeper into the little cocoon of safety Bee had put around her. He laughed at her actions.
"It's just a movie, belle," he whispered to her with a laugh in his voice.
"Doesn't make it any less intense!" she told him back. He laughed at her statement, and then tightened his hold on her.
The time skip in the movie slowed to a normal pace, and Katie started to slowly walk out the room. After a few moments, a wild screaming was heard from the downstairs, making all present, even Ironhide, jump in their seats.
"What the hell!" Wash yelled, as Micah quickly woke from his sleep and ran towards the noise. Then, more screams and sounds of a struggle were heard, and then they stopped, and the movie became eerily quiet. After a few moments, they then heard the sound of someone or something slowly walking up the staircase. Alise buried her face into Bee's chest.
"I can't look!" she whispered loudly. After another moment of the walking noise, she peeked out and looked at the screen again. Then all of a sudden, something flew into the camera.
"Shit!" Lennox and Epps said simultaneously, as Alise and Bee jumped and Wash let out a yell. They all didn't even realize what it was until that moment. It was Micah's body.
"Oh, no," Alise started to say, gripping Bee's hand. "Oh, no. Oh, boy..."
Katie then entered the room again, only this time, her night shirt was stained with a large moment of blood. She looked at the camera on the ground, and started to slowly walk towards it. As she got a little closer, she went down on her knees and began to crawl. She put her head into the lens of the camera where she gave them an evil smile. Suddenly her face began to morph, and she began to yell into the camera... And then it cut off, and the movie ended.
Nobody spoke for a long time. Everyone just sat in silence, letting the movie sink in. Then after a few moments, Wash spoke up.
"So..." he began. "Anyone else going to have trouble going to sleep?"
"Maybe."
"Possibly."
"Nope."
"If anything comes near me tonight, I'm going to shoot it."
"That's what I thought."
Nobody made the effort to get up however. Alise, wanting to be brave and go to bed soon, picked up the bowl of popcorn from Wash's lap and stood up from Bee's.
"I'm going to put this in the kitchen and then go to bed," she stated to five. "If I don't come back in five minutes, you all better come after me, guns ready."
They all laughed and nodded. She then took off in the direction of the kitchen. Because the area was dark and creepy, and Katie's demonic smile was still in her mind, she was walking at a fast pace so she could quickly get back to the guys. She walked into the kitchen and set the bowl on the counter and then started to head out. But as she started to walk back into the main hanger she was just in, something didn't seem right.
The hairs went up on the back of her neck. Someone was there with her.
She quickly turned around, but couldn't see anyone there.
"Hello?" she quietly said. There was no reply. She then heard something bang behind her, making her fly around. "Hello? Who's there?" she asked again, louder this time.
Then, closer than she ever would have wanted, someone spoke up behind her.
"Boo."
Alise then did the most logical thing she could. She screamed.
Turning around, she saw her ghost to only be Skids. A few feet behind him was Mudflap. She instantly stopped upon seeing them, but that didn't stop it from happening. Skids flew back at her scream, and started to wave his hands around.
"Don't, don't!" he started to panic. "We sorry, we sorry! If they find out we did d'at, we dead!" But it was too late.
"Lise!" they heard being yelled from behind them. They also heard engines revving and cannons charging.
A yellow blur was quickly seen speeding towards them, and Bee transformed in mid-motion in front of them. Quickly looking around with his cannon glowing, he pointed it at each of the twins before quickly taking Alise into his other hand. Ironhide quickly ran to his side in the same fashion, only both of his hands were cannons at this point.
"What happened?" 'Hide demanded, as the three soldiers soon appeared behind them. All eyes turned to the twins, who looked guilty.
"We didn't mean to make 'er scream!" Mudflap started. "We just-"
"We just snuck up on 'er!" Skids injected. "That all!"
Lennox sighed. "You scared her, on an army base... full of armed soldiers and Autobots... ready to kill whatever gets near her... after we watch a horror movie?" he asked unbelievingly, shaking his head. "You two have a death wish."
As Lennox said this, Bee lifted Alise to his face and looked her over.
"'You okay?'" he voiced worriedly. Alise nodded and put a hand on his face.
"I'm fine," she told him with a breathless laugh. "Just got a little scared." He nodded once and then nuzzled his face next to hers reassuringly. He then turned his head sharply towards the twins. After sounding some scratchy Cybertronian at the two, they both cringed.
"We didn't mean no harm, Bee," Skids said, tried to explain. "Just a little fun, d'at's all."
"One of these days, your fun is going to go too far!" 'Hide barked at the two. He then quickly walked over and picked the two of them up, one in each hand. He then loudly banged them together, and tossed them to the side. The two yelled protests of pain as they fell to the ground, but no one gave them much sympathy. Instead, everyone just started to walk away.
Alise was the only one to look back at them. She did feel a little bad for them, even though the prank was directed at her. She knew they truly didn't mean any harm.
Everyone was suddenly very tired. They went to their own rooms for the night, including Alise and holoform Bee to hers. She changed into her pajamas and then took off her necklace and placed it on the nightstand. She then went and laid next to Bee on the bed, who was already in his night wear. She curled up next to him, lying her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Bee?" she said, not looking up at him.
"Hmm?"
"Do you think you guys are a little hard on the twins?" She turned her head to face them. He gave her sad smile and sighed.
"'Hide does get a little rough with them," he admitted, as he ran his fingers through her hair. "But sometimes it's the only way to make them see that they need to stop acting so immaturely."
"I just feel bad for them getting hurt all the time. Sometimes it's even my fault! They say something and then you and 'Hide..."
"Lise, don't." He took her face in his hands. "You have got to stop feeling bad about things that aren't your fault. If they said or did something inappropriate to you, 'Hide and I aren't going to just stand by. That is not your fault. That's them being them and bringing it on themselves."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." He bent down and gently kissed the tip of her nose, making her smile. "Now go to sleep, belle."
Before he knew it, she sat up and placed her lips on his, giving him a welcoming kiss. She smiled at him, and whispered, "Thank you. Goodnight." She then laid back down on his chest before he could reply. Smiling down at her and feeling warmed at having her in his arms, he placed a kiss on her head.
"Goodnight," he whispered back, and then he reached over and turned out the light, the two settling in for the night.