The camera and microphone mistakenly turned on in Alvin's hand as the phone rustled and swayed in his hand while he walked. The forward and backward movement caused the camera's view to blur frequently without time to adjust, but at the right angles it still managed to reveal that Alvin was walking next to Brittany and beside her, Jeanette. The microphone could also pick up Simon, Eleanor and Theodore's voices as well just out of view.
"Face it Alvin," Simon boasted. "You're never going to beat me at 'TerrorZone'."
"Oh, give me a break, that was totally cheating! You all saw it," Alvin argued back as the microphone managed to catch Brittany giggling next to him despite his volume and proximity. "You got like quad-vision with your glasses! And-And I bet you plugged something into the cabinet when I wasn't looking!" Then everyone but Alvin erupted in laughter at his reason. Simon caught his breath and responded from off-camera.
"And I probably have some sort of cheat in my glasses too, right?"
"Look! He even admitted it!"
"Then how do you explain me beating you," Eleanor chimed in as the rest chuckled.
"W-Well, I'm sure Theo snuck around something for you."
"Oh no, don't drag me into this Alvin," Theodore defended. "You lost fair and square."
"And what about me," Brittany then spoke up, causing the phone to be shaken more. Then, along with Alvin, it stopped and only managed to record Brittany from the waist down planting a hand on her hip while turning to him.
"Alright, I see how it is," Alvin accused. "You're all in on it! Gotta cheat me to beat me, I see how it is!" His hands launched into the air with phone in tow, getting very brief moments of Brittany as well as Jeanette behind her laughing at Alvin from overhead before it lowered back down. They continued walking and talking. The view from the camera eventually went from asphalt and concrete to dirt and eventually green grass. There was a creak of a wood fence captured on the microphone, then after a moment of the faint rustling of their footsteps, the wood fence creaked again and slammed on itself. Eventually even the grass became a stone pathway, lastly transitioning into neatly painted steps. "All I'm saying is that you guys clearly-" From the camera there was an audible thud as it picked up Alvin bumping into Simon who now went ahead of him on the staircase to the Chipette Treehouse.
"What the-" Theodore said from the front.
"What… is… that," followed Eleanor from behind him. Her tone quickly became weary.
"Jeanette," Brittany shouted out with disgust. "Look at this! What is this?"
"What," Jeanette spoke up as she tried to go ahead of them. "I don't see any-" As Jeanette got to the front of the group up the stairs she paused and changed her train of thought. "Oh! Wait- Wait, oh my gosh!" The camera swiftly went up into both of Alvin's hands, the chipmunk trying to get the camera on and ready but much to his surprise he was already recording. He shrugged and focused the camera towards the door of the treehouse and zoomed back in. Nailed onto the middle of the door was a strange effigy, vaguely person shaped made of dried plants, straw and other pieces that they couldn't figure out. It was partially stained red but after collecting themselves from the sudden fright, figured out it was only the juices of some kind of berry.
"Well, that's creepy…" Alvin commented to his camera from the back.
"And SO gross," Brittany added. "We're going to have to wash the door with bleach! Or fire." Jeanette lit up in excitement as she came over to the door.
"The next gift! The penultimate step of the ceremony! Look everyone! Look!"
"Jean," Eleanor said as she walked towards her sister. "I know we said we'd trust you on this whole pixie thing, but this just seems... not right."
"I-I concur," Simon added as he approached them as well. "Doesn't that seem a little... unnerving to you? It doesn't exactly look inviting."
"Oh not at all," Jeanette smiled and explained to her friend and sister. "Pixies always do this according to their myths. They leave things like this too. Think of it as… like a childhood doll!"
"But does it have to be so…" Eleanor started.
" Horrifying," Brittany finished. Simon looked at Jeanette, then nodded as he stepped back in thought while the others tried to reach for the doorknob. "Ellie," Brittany whispered but she was just close enough for it to pick up on the phone's microphone. "Get a trash bag… and some matches." Alvin took notice of his brother by himself now at the corner of the porch, lost in serious thought. The microphone also caught Alvin's footsteps thumping along to Simon.
"You look like you're trying to make sense of my logic again," Alvin snarked, though not getting Simon's direct attention.
"This is…" Simon pondered aloud, making a passing glance at Alvin and his camera before looking away again. "Something just doesn't feel right about this at all…"
"What was your first clue? That the smeared jam looks like blood? Or the creepy doll NAILED to the girls' door?"
"All of it!" Simon gestured for Alvin to join him closer by the railing. Alvin looked over to make sure that everyone else was inside before turning back to Simon. He zoomed out to get a better look at his brother. "The prior gifts were unsettling before but in an illogical way. This time is different…"
"Different is putting it lightly."
"Does any of this sound or look like a friendly creature?"
"At first you could tell me that it's just a wild animal that doesn't know any better and I'd believe you. Are you sure we're not summoning a demon now?"
"I saw on a blog while researching pixies that someone had a copy of the book Jeanette's friend is sending us. However, the pages on the subject were… violently torn out. There was nothing left, well, nothing legible anyway."
"Isn't that convenient? Not at all suspicious or anything."
"Whatever was written on those pages must have provided vital information on this ceremony. Best case scenario, it's simply a misunderstanding."
"A-And worst case?" Simon looked between Alvin and his camera with a concerned look.
"I-It's imperative that we receive that book. And hope for all our sakes that the pages are intact."
"Betcha wish you caved in and paid for expedited shipping, huh?" Alvin noticed that Simon was just about to give him a chuckle but the two suddenly froze up at the gust of wind that blew past them. "That was weird… Not a breeze all day when we were out and n-now one that-"
"Feels like a s-sudden drop in temperature?" Alvin looked around with his camera, his speed grew faster as his mind played tricks on him.
"Are you two coming in or what," Brittany called out from the now open treehouse window, scaring the both of them. Alvin nearly dropped his phone but caught it before it completely left his hand. "It totally got freezing out of, like, nowhere!"