A Dangerous Game

Charlie is being watched, but by the time he realizes what's going on, it's too late. From a normal day to a nightmare, can he find a way out?

Have you ever felt like you were being watched? Like, perhaps, someone was watching you from just around the corner? Have you ever felt the intense gaze of an unknown entity, and been terrified to look?

Let me tell you the story of a player who gazed back, never to be heard from again.

It started out a normal day, for all intents and purposes. With it being the weekend, Charlie slept in, having no concrete plans. As he awoke, he remembered dreaming, but not exactly what the dream was about- only that it creeped him out. Shaking off last night, and having rubbed the sleepies out of his eyes, he slid out of bed, and turned on his computer across the room. He drank from his glass of water as it booted up, and he logged into his favorite game.
As he worked on his daily activities around the bustling town, he noticed that none of his friends were online. He paused and pondered at how strange it was for him to be the only one playing on the weekend. Not letting another moment pass, he took a task to go out from the town, and gather some wood from the nearby forest. It was at this point in time that the game’s sounds suddenly turned on- this was quite strange since he always preferred to play in silence, or with his own music. He cursed the developers as he went to settings, and turned them off. Shortly after, he had the wood that he was tasked to obtain, and quick-traveled back to town, but it was quickly apparent that something was off. As Charlie walked through the town, there wasn’t a player or npc in sight. CRASH! Lightning struck as a thunderstorm rolled in, startling him. He grunted, and once again, brought up settings to turn them off when he came to find out that the settings were all grayed out, and couldn’t be altered anymore. Seething at the idea of playing with the dreadful sounds, he logged out, and logged back in again.
Now, not only were the sounds still on, but a dark silhouette had appeared in front of his character for only a split second, causing him to jump, and run the other way. He tried to quick-travel, but the option was disabled, much to his dismay. After a short time of running, he turned around, and the silhouette flashed again before him, and this time he turned a corner and darted into a building, shutting the door behind him. The storm had grown loud as rain assaulted the roof. He silently praised the developers for their attention to detail, but was cut short as footsteps sounded in front of the building, and grew closer to the door.
Finally they stopped, and so did all the sounds in the game. Charlie barely had a moment of confusion before a loud flurry of knocks shook his own room door. He suspiciously approached the door, and after a brief moment of hesitation, opened it. What beheld Charlie left him speechless, as he peered into a black void. He slowly peered out to either side, but decided not to take a step further as his stomach turned. Unfortunately, he’d already gone too far, and as he leaned back into his room, he found that only the doorway remained- his bed was gone, his desk, his favorite chair, even his funko pops- everything had ceased to exist, and was replaced by an endless void. Even the silence around him was deafening. After what felt like an eternity, a pressure built up inside him until he finally screamed. He screamed until his lungs gave out, and then he screamed some more. How could this be happening? Surely, it was all just a dream! Even these copious thoughts of self comfort could not repel the horror that lay ahead, because just off in the distance, a pair of yellow glowing eyes appeared, several feet above the ground. Slowly, more sets of eyes appeared, and some even began moving toward him. Charlie was captivated, completely captured by the confusion of his circumstance, overcome by the calamity that his clumsiness caused, when a cacophony of claps occurred that could only be compared to the echo of a caravan of carapace-covered creatures coming ever closer as consequence to his conduct. The piercing creak of a door slowly opening reverberated through the void, and Charlie took off without a moment’s hesitation. The pitter-pattering of the creatures grew louder and overlapped more and more as the strange creatures slowly caught up with Charlie’s full sprint. Finally, in the distance, a bright light from a doorway pierced the darkness, and his legs gained a new vigor. Now, glowing red eyes began appearing to his sides, but he kept on. Forward was the only word on his mind- any other and he would stumble as his body was beginning to fail. One final push, and he leapt through the door until…
He was through. Charlie leaned back against the wall as he caught his breath. All the images of what had just happened flashed before him, and it was all he could do to not have a full panic attack. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and held it for a few seconds before releasing it slowly, and opening his eyes again, just like his mother had taught him years before. He looked around, and he was in a rather empty building made from wood. Only a few tables and some shelves made up the interior, and the blinds were all shut, letting in very little sunlight. Finally, he got up, and made his way to the door, opened it, and walked through.
People ran through the streets as if they were on a mission, while others stood at market stalls, almost motionless. As he approached the town center, it dawned on him that he was no longer in his room, nor his house, nor the city, not even the country in which he lived. He was now in his video game- something he often had wished for, but now was terrified of. As quickly as it had occurred to him, he lost all control of his body- he was now jogging to the far side of town, and despite his protests, arrived at the main gate of the east wall. He looked down, and noticed he had a todo list in his hand, and was carrying a hatchet in his other. The list read, ‘Gather 20 pieces of wood’. Before he could put two and two together, a loud boom resounded through the very ground he stood on. Above him, a gigantic rectangle filled the sky, labeled ‘Sound Settings’, with a very annoyed image of himself far above- except it wasn’t an image, he was moving. As sounds were disabled with a booming click, the rectangle disappeared, and off to the forest he went. Later, Charlie arrived back in town after traveling at break-neck speeds from the forest, and very worn out, once again approached the town center, with not a soul in sight along the way. A loud crackle of lightning rattled the buildings nearby, and once again, the rectangle appeared overhead, as well as the vision of himself, even more frustrated than he’d been prior. This time the options were grayed out, and it was at that moment that he knew what would happen next. He yelled, and screamed as much as his motionless body would allow, but despite his protests, the inevitable occurred…and everything went black…
It started out a normal day, for all intents and purposes. With it being the weekend, Charlie slept in, having no concrete plans. As he awoke, he remembered dreaming, but not exactly what the dream was about- only that it creeped him out. Shaking off last night, and having rubbed the sleepies out of his eyes, he slid out of bed, and turned on his computer across the room…

The End

Reviews

[Rats]

I tend to like more creepy stuff and gore and well I don't want to say real but like the supernatural activity is definitely happening and coming to get them but for all purposes it was a very good and captivating story

[Author Daniel Hartmann]

Thank you! It was my first dive into this type of story, so it's great to hear!

[Rats]

well for a first dive it was very good

[Chris]

Good twists. The best writer I have read on Writer's Cafe uses "Roarke" as his site name. I like what you've penned and perhaps he may help you with a more knowledgeable critique and/or questions?

[Author Daniel Hartmann]

Thank you! I'll check them out.