Seven Days: A Ring Story: Day 4Jul 24 '03 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Well, this is my final chapter on this story. In this part, we are introduced to Mai, a character in the actual movies, and Sadako's world.
Lani was in her room, flipping through the channels trying to get to sleep. Suddenly, the TV went on static. She figured it was just a bad channel, so she tried going back down- it wouldn’t work. She turned off the TV, then turned it back on. The static blared back. She was about to go around to the back to mess with the wires, but it stopped. She looked at the image. It was a creepy-looking forest landscape, with a well in the middle of the screen. She stared at it. Suddenly, a hand reached out. Lani backed away from the television, panicked. The hand was followed by the girl from the video tape. Sadako started walking toward the screen, until she was life-sized on the television. Lani hoped that would stop her, but she knew better. And she was right- the girl crawled out of the TV. She walked up to Lani, and grabbed her arm. Lani woke up screaming. She looked around. The TV was still off, and there was no girl. She was in Japan. They had arrived a few hours before, and settled into their hotel rooms. There was a knock at the door. “Hello?” asked a voice from outside. It was Chris. “I heard screaming,” he said as she let him in. “Are you alright, Lani?” She hugged Chris. She just wanted this week to be over with. --- Miya stepped up off of the ferry. So this was the infamous Izu Oshima, home of Sadako. She knew where to look already- something inside her was telling her to go into the cave by the sea. She looked around at the town- nobody was awake at the time. She walked along the beach into the cave, and stood at the foot of the statue. “So,” she thought. “This is the famous En of the town of Odzunu.” She smiled. A green light began to shine from her eyes. As did from En’s. Miya fell down to the ground, with a smile on her face. --- Zebu, who had just managed to fall asleep, heard the door slam. He shot up, instinctively reaching for his metal suitcase. He glanced around alertly, and noticed Chris was gone. "Damn that bastard....." he thought. He shoved Schleppy until he woke up. "Uggg.... what?" "Chris went somewhere! He left!" "And you woke me up for that?" "Well I'm quite sure he's not headed for the bathroom." "Beats me.... Probably went to Lani's room to run a base or something..." Zebu's eyes widened. "Lani! Crap... That isn't good!" Schleppy turned over, taking half the blankets with him. “Look, I don't care what the heck they do over there, I just wanna sleep!" "No, you baka! You know how Lani always seems to be the one who encounters the apparitions around here? I think it could tamper with her psychic powers, causing them to manifest!" Schleppy blinked, doing his best to catch up. "What?" “Ah, forget it,” said Zebu as he closed the door. Schleppy shrug, and went back to sleep. He found himself in an empty theater, save for a few directors and a very beautiful woman in white on the stage, holding a mask. Although Schleppy didn’t know Japanese, she understood every word she said. Although she looked nice, Schleppy couldn’t help but think there was something off about her. He had seen that mask before. “The tape!” thought Schleppy. “Then this is… and that means she’s a… Oh, dear god!” He ran out of the auditorium to throw up, and maybe beat himself up for thinking of a hermaphrodite like that. However, as soon as he turned the corner, he ran into a midget, her face covered with black hair. She reached up and grabbed his arm. Schleppy woke up in cold sweat. It was only a dream. He looked around, and realized that he was now the only one in the guys’ room. He ran out, and went into Lani’s. “Are you guys alright?” he asked, himself out of breath. Zebu laughed. “We’re fine, Schleppy. Lani here just had a little nightmare.” “A small drawback of this psychic stuff,” she said with a faint smile. Schleppy laughed emptily, as he had done so often since they had been cursed, and looked down. He stared at her arm. There was some sort of black hand mark on it, as if she had been grabbed by somebody who was burning from the inside. He thought for a second, looked at his arm, and screamed- he had the mark, too. “What’s the matter, Schleppy?” asked Chris. “Lani,” he asked. “You had a nightmare tonight, right?” “Yeah. A few, actually.” “Did any of them involve a midget grabbing your arm?” Lani laughed, but then saw that he was serious. “No… But Sadako did. Why?” Schleppy put out his arm. Chris stared at it, then looked back at Lani. “Lani, look at your arm,” he said. Lani looked at her arm, and screamed again. “Oh, for crying out loud,” said Zebu, holding his ears and closing his eyes. But he saw not darkness- it was an old man and hundreds of people kneeling down to him. They were chanting something, but he understood it not. Then the man was standing next to him. The people were gone- in their place, there were thousands of demons building a bridge. Next, he was in a dark place. Surrounding him, there was Schleppy, Lani, and Chris. But they did not look at him- they kept on walking aimlessly. He turned around- there was Miya. He looked at her face. It was like that of a china doll being hit by small bits of gravel. Small chips of it fell off. He backed away- and saw her shadow. It was in the shape of a man with a towel on his head. He opened his eyes- everybody was staring at him. “Enough of this,” he said. He took a pill from his pocket, and swallowed. He collapsed on the ground. The rest looked at him. Chris especially- he was, after all, one of Zebu’s few trusted friends. “Is he dead?” he asked. Schleppy felt for Zebu’s pulse. “Yeah, he’s alright. Let’s take him back to the room.” “And try to get to sleep, okay, Lani?” Lani nodded, and soon after the guys had left, she was fast and peacefully asleep. --- As Zebu woke up he felt a strange feeling. He looked around the hotel room. Where was he? Suddenly everything came back to him. They were in Japan.... and the last thing he remembered was being in Lani's room.... then... only brief flashes... an arm slinging over his shoulder, blotches of dark... and being dragged. He must have fainted, and one of the guys carried him back. Zebu glanced at the clock at the bedside. It read "6:15." Amazing, he thought. He had adjusted to the time zone faster than he had once perceived. Leaving the thought alone, he climbed out of bed. He looked around. Chris and Schleppy were fast asleep. He walked over to the balcony, and brushed aside the curtains as he stepped outside. Zebu felt a soft, cold, breeze in the air. The clouds were dark, and a sliver of the sun could be seen on the horizon. Thoughts lingered in his mind. The Ring.... Sadako.... Samara... Just names... And then there was Chris... Schleppy... He had only just met them yet they seemed like close friends. Then Lani passed through his mind. He suddenly found himself smiling. Zebu closed his eyes. "Oroka....." He said, turning back to the hotel room. He strode up to Schleppy's bed, and shoved him until he woke up. His eyes shot open. "What the!" He turned to Zebu. "Oh... You're okay...." He rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" "About 6:20." Schleppy scoffed. "Do you have any idea what time it is in America?" He turned back to sleep. "Yurui-Yara...." Zebu muttered. It really didn't matter to him whether they slept in or not, but Zebu knew they all were running out of time... They needed all they could get. Lani woke up from her sleep. She looked around the room and smiled a little bit. She had finally gotten to Japan. Then she remembered what happened the night before, and her asking them to kill her if they didn't find the cure, Zebu falling asleep. She walked into the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face, the only way to truly wake her up besides a really big mocha latte, and looked in the mirror. Her hair was blacker than ever, and now her traditionally green eyes were turning dark. She changed out of the plain white dress into a pair of jeans and a red tank top. She grabbed a hair tie out of her bag and put it into a high ponytail. She put on her make up and left her room with her purse and went to go get some coffee. Once she got back, she was holding four cups of coffee and some breakfast and walked into Zebu, Chris, and Schleppy's room. "Morning guys!" Chris looked at her. “Your eyes…” Lani smiled. “Yeah, they’re changing, I know. Thanks for noticing.” "Plus it’s our fourth day, which means we've got three days left and practically no leads." Ringring. Somebody was calling. Everybody was nervous. Ringring. Schleppy picked it up. "Hello?" "This is 1 800 collect. Will you accept the charges?" Schleppy looked around. "Her body's in a freakin well, how can she not have enough coins to afford a call within the country?" "Yeah, I'll accept the charges." J answered. "Hey, Schleppy." Schleppy was somewhat relieved. "Oh, I thought you were the killer girl from the video." He paused. "Hey wait a minute, you're making a collect call from Texas?" "Yeah." "Well it better be important" "If you're dying three days from now, it doesn't matter now, does it?" "You better hope I do die, or I'll kill you when I get back to the states." "Well, listen- I've got the interview set up with both Nakata- that's today, at Tokyo Plaza, that one American restaurant, table 7, 11:00- and Suzuki- tomorrow, same place." "Is that it?" "Yeah." "Well why don't you hang up? This is a collect call across the Pacific!" "Well, I paid for the reservations, so you're paying for this." "That is really cruel, man." Schleppy hung up. "Ok, let's all get ready- we're about to get some leads at an American restaurant in Tokyo Plaza in two hours.” “So we’re finally going to go somewhere?” asked Lani. “Excellent.” “Ah, splendid…” said Zebu, gulping down some orange juice. “We’re almost late, let’s go.” --- Mai Takano, an attractive Japanese girl in her late twenties, was riding the bus. A lot of men looked at her lewdly, but she ignored them. She really couldn’t quite be happy any more, even if somebody gave her a new car or something like that. Nothing could replace Ryuji. 12 years ago, she was girlfriend of Ryuji Tanaka, her math professor. One short week had ended all of that. If only he had told her, if only she had been able to save him. If only Reiko had never shown him the tape. If only- but it was not to be. If Ryuji had not died, then there would be no way to know how to stop the virus from spreading. But how could she think of him like that? She shook her head. Just focus on something else. She was going to meet with Yoichi, Ryuji and Reiko’s son from when they had been married. She got off the bus, but her attention was turned to a group of Americans. For tourists, they seemed rather sad. “So where’s Nakata going to be, again?” asked one. Mai looked at them more closely. In one of their handbags, there was a video tape. She took out her phone. “Hello, Yoichi? I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to meet with you some other time. It’s her.” --- Nakata sat down with the American teenagers. “I’m sorry I was late. I was talking with Mr. Verbinski from America, the director of the remake. So, what is it that you want to talk with me about? Mr. Lopez said it was very important.” “It is,” said Zebu. “J didn’t tell you, but we’re infected with the Ring Virus.” He felt like a total idiot. "I knew there might be this problem,” said Schleppy. “You see, Mr. Nakata, somehow the curse- well, virus is of course the correct term- is real. It's crazy, I know. But we saw the video four days ago- maybe five days ago, depends whether Sadako recognizes the International Date Line. Well, afterward we got the call. It didn't say a thing, just like in your movie. And yet we actually got the call, even though we were a few thousand miles away from the well. I think it may have something to do with Sadako being taken out of the well- I'm going with the idea that all that happened in the book was true. “Now, look at our arms." Schleppy and Lani showed Nakata their arms. "Believe me, last night we both had these weird dreams and got these marks on our arms. It's probably because of some sort of links with Sadako we carry. Lani's mother was killed ten years ago by the tape- but we're not sure whether it's Sadako's or Samara's. Yes, we're believing that the American version happened, too. “Lani saw Samara, even though we have never even seen the trailers for the remake." Schleppy's face was turning blue- he forgot to breathe. He did, and continued rambling. "Plus Lani has some strange psychic powers lately. I'm sure that Miya's got a mark now, too- she has some powers as well. But we can only assume she's in the states right now, I think she's researching Samara's tape all alone. Finally, I've had some psychic links with both Ryuji and Noah. Do you have any idea how to stop the curse?" Nakata stared at them. They didn't know how to stop the curse- they were American, which means they couldn't have possibly missed the part which explains how to stop it on the film, what with subtitles and all. However, he wasn't about to tell them- if this was true, then he'd be the first to be sacrificed for their own lives. He wished that he could help them- he really did- but his own sense of self-preservation stopped him. "I'm sorry. I don't." "But you made the movie!" said Zebu, frankly p*ssed. "Our DVD was scratched at the end, we could only tell that taking her out of the well didn't help!" "I'm sorry. I wish I could help you, I really do- but I can't. I'm sorry, I can't explain it." He left, though thankfully leaving a check for enough yen to pay for lunch. "Well, that really didn't help too much," said Chris. "Did you see the look on his face? It's like the remedy is just as horrible as the ailment itself..." None of them saw a young girl walking away from their table putting a few pieces of paper into her handbag. --- Lani looked at her reflection in the mirror and grabbed the peroxide to bleach her hair. She closed her eyes for a minute and opened them back up and saw her reflection, but then saw Sadako standing behind her. Lani ran out of the bathroom in a panic and curled up in her bed. "What was that? I know it was Sadako, but why? How?" She looked up at the ceiling trying to fall asleep wondering if they would ever find the cure. --- Zebu heard the screaming, but ignored it- he knew it was Lani, and he knew it was alright, and he knew Chris was sound asleep. Zebu lied down, staring up at the ceiling. Suddenly, he got an idea. The Ring novel.... in his bag.... It obviously would tell them the cure. He excitedly reached down and grabbed his bag. After a few minutes of rummaging through it, he realized the truth. It was missing. --- Schleppy was sleeping, as was usual. "The fifth day would soon begin," his subconscious told him. "On the seventh day, you will have a few hours to determine the charm. This sucks *ss. Chris has got Lani, Zebu... Well, not sure about him, but he’s got the tortured young hero thing going for him- I'm gonna die a virgin!" As you can tell, Schleppy's subconscious is quite the character. Ryuji WAS about to give him the charm in his dreams so that the virus could be spread, but his inside ramblings scared him off. Ryuji walked (if it could be called "walking") away from Schleppy. He did not need to know this information, although it WAS somewhat comforting. That comfort was shattered as he passed through Chris going into Lani's room. Ryuji shuddered, then went through the portal into Sadako's world. Sadako's world was like a carnival. There were clown faces everywhere (all covered by hair, of course), there was a kiddie section- where everything was printed in English and there was a pony-killing game- and there was the boozing and roller coaster area- filled with Playboys nobody bought, because they all starred Sadako in the centerfold, and nobody really wants to see that. Ryuji saw Noah coming out of the kiddie section, following Samara to Sadako's mansion on the grounds. "Come on, could you walk any slower, Samsy?" yelled Noah, though he wimped down a little when she turned around. He changed the subject. "Hey, bro! How're things going?" Ryuji disgusted Noah calling him "bro." "It's Ryuji. If you want to get chummy, it's Ryuji-san. We may be spiritually 'brothers', but if you call me 'bro' one more f*cking time..." "Hey, I'm just kidding, Ry." Ryuji squinted again. Samara laughed. To her, this was better than watching horses hurl themselves over sheer rock cliffs. Suddenly, a voice called over the intercoms. "You three! Stop jerking around and get in here!" They entered the mansion. Well, actually, it more appeared to be a tool shed. Samara jumped down the well inside first, then Ryuji. Noah stood there a little while- he was relatively new at this. Samara had 18 extra years in which she got used to wells. Ryuji had 12. Noah hated the water. But he still jumped, because he really did not want to get Sadako angry. "Alright,” said Sadako, “Samara and Noah, you two are really slacking off in the states. I mean my own video has gotten four kids there already, and you haven’t gotten past the one hundred mark yet, unlike my main man Ryuji here. You want to know why? Subtitles! When the kids in the states watch the Ring, they can't hear that lil b*tch Keller figure out how to save herself, and spread the virus. They've got ADD or something, I don't know. But according to these demographics, half those kids are completely confused at the end of the movie their first time through. When they watch the Japanese movie, they actually READ the subtitles. Now Samsy, I want you to give Gore a call and tell him to make a sequel that makes it blatantly clear how it works, except that copying will lead to the end of the world. Ok, you two can go now." Samara and Noah bowed, then used Sadako's fingernails on the well's side as grapples, climbing back up the well. Sadako turned to Ryuji- of course, it was hard to tell who she was looking at, with all that hair in front of her head. Since he was the only other person, he assumed she was looking at him. "What the hell happened there? You could have put this tape in four completely new directions, you IDIOT!" She threw a television at Ryuji, then pulled another down with her mind, so she wouldn't miss a minute of the Packers game. "But Miss Yamamura, please. He... he was thinking about his virginity, I just lost all will to be in the same room as him." "Oh come on, Ryuji. You've softened up in these years you've been here. Remember how cool you were in life? You bragged about rapes you didn't commit. You didn't gag at all when Dr. Nagao told you I'm a guy. You were one hip dog, G. What happened? Now go back there, and give him a hint. I don't care what it is, anything! These four people are the best opportunity I've had since the first four here and in the states. Now go out there and do me proud." "Alright, Madam Yamamura." Ryuji climbed slowly up the side of the well to get back to Tokyo- but by the time he got back to the hotel, it was morning and Schleppy was awake. It was day five. Ryuji would have to wait until the next night. --- - Well, that’s it for Day Four. And that’s it for my part of the Roleplay. From now on, it’ll be put up by Sadgit, AKA Transvamp, who played the parts of, mainly, Mai and Suzuki. I’ll miss doing this, and I’m sure he’ll do just as good a job. Good night, ladies and gents!  |
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