Jane 444

Jane 444

Hello, I'm Jane.  On the morning of April 4, 2004 I got up and made myself a cup of coffee.  Then I sat in front of my computer and went through my daily routine.  I typed aquarius into google and then clicked on Yahoo!’s daily horoscope for my star sign.  I liked to get a feel for what the day had in store for me before starting the day.  Only on this day, there was no, “dress nice because your love life is going to heat up” or “today you will think about making a career change.”  What it said was this:

“You are going to die today.”

I clicked the refresh button on internet explorer.  The website disappeared.  Now all I got was a page that said:

“error! code 444”

I hit the back button.  It only said:

“error! code 444”

I restarted my computer and the internet was working fine.  I could even check my email.  I googled my horoscope again and clicked on Yahoo!.

“error! code 444”

I thought that someone must have hacked Yahoo! Shine and changed the horoscopes to play a cruel trick on those of us that believe in astrology.  I googled aquarius again but this time I clicked on astrology.com.

“error! code 444”

444, what does that mean? I thought.  I googled 444.

Nothing of any meaning came up.  I closed the browser.  As soon as I did this, a black window popped up on my desk top.  Incomprehensible code grew and then stretched down the page.  I watched the side bar grow very small.  Then I scrolled to the bottom.

“error! code 444” was there.

Then the screen turned black.  It only displayed this message:

“error! code 444”

I thought that I had gotten a computer virus.  The computer turned off.  I turned it back on.  Everything appeared to be fine.  My hands shook as I thought about all of the music, pictures, and files that I had not backed up.  When everything came up like normal, I felt a great, although tentative, relief.

I was extra cautious on my way to work.  I thought that maybe the 444 bus would hit me.  Nothing happened.  I felt like a paranoid idiot.  That night, I went to sleep.

I woke up and got out of bed.  Then I looked down and saw the hour glass shape of my body still laying there.  The blonde curls of my hair spilled off the pillow and to the side of the bed.  I reached out to touch one of them.  My hand went right through it.  I looked at the clock, it was 4:44, but it was flashing.

That is how I know that it took five days for them to discover my body.  Then, it took four months for them to rent out the apartment to someone else.  Now I stand over the new tenant’s shoulder, and his screen displays this message:

“error! code 444”

Reviews

[Hatter at Heart]

Eerie! I liked it. Glad I wasn't sitting in the dark alone while reading this. The concept of an internet ghost reminds me of those chain letters that used to be spread around via E-mail.

[Dean Kuch®]

Whoa, now THAT'S what a call a horror story! If you can give me chills, you have accomplished something. I don't chill easily.
A uniquely chilling take on the modern ghost story, this one is going in my library. Fantastic write!

[dme]

Thanks : )

It severely crept me out when I was writing it, which also is no small feat. I actually walked away from it. Then the story haunted me. I couldn't get 444 out of my head, so I had to go back to finish it. I only hope that this one leaves me alone now...

[Dean Kuch®]

My hope 4 you is that the af-4-mentioned story that haunts you still will truly let you be in peace 4-ever (heh, sorry. I simply couldn't help myself)

[dme]

haha! the 4 actually does have meaning. in mandarin chinese, the 4 has the same general pronunciation as "death, to die." you can search death and 4 in a chinese dictionary and the pinyin will both be "si" but with different tones. so it is very similar to 6 in western culture with regards to the connotation. in some places, they even go as far as to nominally skip the fourth floor in buildings, so that 3 goes straight to 5. so even though it is the 4th floor, they might call it the 5th and change the names of all of the floors above the 4th.

[Dean Kuch®]

Wow, that is very interesting. See, you taught me something. And people say I'm a lost cause...