by Daphne Cox
“I don’t really know,” he said, sitting back down beside her and leaning onto the back of the sofa. “It doesn’t really even feel like a game, maybe more like a very frustrating mobile app.”
“I think there’s a point, maybe,” she said, tapping her finger on her chin.
“I’m not sure. I’m still kind of disappointed,” Jacob admitted.
“Maybe it’ll get better, or at least make more sense later,” Celeste said hopefully.
“Maybe,” Jacob said without much enthusiasm. “It’s like there’s no story line at all, no objective, no anything.”
“Perhaps we’re missing something.”
“Even so, why would they make it so obscure?” Jacob asked with his head turned to the ceiling.
“Hmm,” Celeste hummed. “Maybe something will happen if we keep playing.”
“By the way,” Jacob started, turning his head to Celeste. “How did you know I had this game?”
Celeste smiled at Jacob and put her bony hand on his knee. “Cody told me actually.”
“Cody?” Jacob asked, overcome with confusion.
“Yep,” she said as she stood up. “I guess I’d better get home now. I’ll be back tomorrow, though!”
She walked herself to the door again and left before Jacob had any time to respond. He sat on the sofa, trying to recall when he had told Cody about the game. He hadn’t told him much, that he could remember, but perhaps Cody had noticed the game lying around. The weeks leading up to the random giveaway, Jacob had mentioned to him how excited he was about it, and how much he hoped he’d win, but Cody hadn’t seemed interested in that particular game to begin with.
Even more interesting to Jacob was the thought of Celeste and Cody talking at all. She seemed to have a burning dislike for Cody in every imaginable way, but he guessed it was possible they were closer than he’d thought. Jealousy surged up through his throat from somewhere inside his gut and flushed his face. Cody was his best friend, but Jacob felt somehow entitled to a chance with Celeste at the very least. Even though his rationality told him there was really no reason he should be upset, he felt completely blindsided by it.
He stayed up and waited for Cody to get home that night. He got in a few minutes after midnight, tipsy and reeking of alcohol. Jacob became more disgruntled as he watched him stagger over to the couch and fall face first into the cushions.
“Why are you up so late?” he asked, rolling his head to Jacob.
Jacob stood in his bedroom doorway. His temper had been steadily rising, but he kept quiet until he could find the words. “I heard you’ve been talking to Celeste.”
Cody merely chuckled.
“I’m serious, you’ve been talking to her haven’t you?”
Cody rolled over on his side watching Jacob with amused curiosity.
“So what if I have? It’s not like you’ve ever made any moves on her.”
“Because I don’t treat women like pieces of meat,” Jacob snarled.
“Woah there tiger,” Cody said with a grin. “I didn’t know you were so infatuated with her.”
“Are you two fucking?” Jacob demanded.
“I wish,” Cody said, and chuckled to the point of choking on his own saliva and coughing.
“Has she told you has she’s been coming over here every night for the past two days?”
“Good for you, man. Good for you. Do we have any sports drinks in the fridge?” Cody asked, entirely unconcerned.
“Get your own damn drink,” Jacob said, slamming his bedroom door.
He was too furious at Cody, but forced himself to try to sleep anyway. He rolled back in forth in bed thinking about Celeste. Everything about her was absolutely perfect, and there was no way Cody deserved her. The thought of them even talking made him livid. He tossed and turned under his sheets all night long, thinking of her, thinking of Cody, and wondering what would happen if he entered Cody’s name into the game.
***
The next morning he avoided Cody, who was too hungover to bother saying anything to him. School was abuzz with even more gossip, but more than that, several fire trucks were parked outside the campus. Police cars flashed somewhere far back in the woods where large clouds of smoke still lingered. Jacob rushed to his classes, looking for any familiar face among the crowds. Eventually he found a classmate of his whom he’d once shared notes with named Brad.
“Hey, dude. What’s going on?” Jacob asked, his heart racing.
“Someone died in the woods again. They think it’s Kurt, but they aren’t really sure yet,” he said, casually going through his bag looking for something. “I don’t know the whole story. I’ve had my head in the books.”
“How did he die?” Jacob asked, his concern and disbelief swelled in his chest.
“You know that he’s a smoker, right? Well last night he got a little too drunk and wandered into the woods. Probably because of Jimmy’s death. They were really good friends. He got so drunk last night that he got tripped up out there with a lit cigarette, and somehow ignited the alcohol. Either he hurt his leg so bad he couldn’t get up, or he was just too hammered to get up. I don’t know all of the details, but that’s what I’ve heard.”
“Okay, thanks,” Jacob said solemnly.
He was finally letting the familiar hole of dread in his stomach swallow all of his disbelief. He didn’t understand how it could be happening. Undertaker was just a video game. All through his day, he couldn’t get the game off of his mind. It was preposterous, ridiculous, and absurd in every respect. There seemed to be something to it, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. His conscience nagged him in the back of his head, dragging him into a state of irreparable guilt.
When he finally got back to his apartment building, a possibility hit him as he passed Celeste’s door and stood in front of his own. Celeste had been with him every time he played the game, and what if the accidents weren’t accidents? That thought seemed ridiculous in every imaginable way to him. She was so sweet, and he couldn’t think of any motive she might have for killing them. Even so, the possibility lingered in his head and killed his appetite. He skipped the leftover pizza in the fridge and examined the case Undertaker had come in. It looked like a completely normal video game case, minus the little pictures on back. There were credits under the description as well as a ‘not-rated’ warning. There wasn’t any booklet inside the case. Nothing. He turned it over and over in his hands, examining it, looking for anything unusual. The game was produced by a company he’d played many games from before, and there was nothing strange about that. It was the game itself that was strange. It wasn’t very interactive at all.
He sat in deep thought until a knock sounded from the door. It was Celeste, he knew. He got up and opened the door for her. She was dressed in tight blue skinny jeans and a plain white t-shirt that complimented her chest perfectly. Her hair was in the usual messy bun she always wore on top of her head.
“Hey,” she said. “I heard about the fire on campus. Was it really that bad?”
“Someone died, actually,” Jacob said, watching her eyes.
“That’s awful. Was it someone you knew?” she pressed with legitimate concern.
“Yes. It was Kurt.”
“Oh,” she said, her voice and expression drifted into a sad, blank state.
“It’s probably a coincidence,” Jacob said, trying to cheer her up. He still looked for anything in her face to suggest malice, but there wasn’t anything there. “Anyway, I’m being rude. Come in,” he said, opening the door wider for her to step in.
She took her usual spot on the couch, where Cody had left a large drool stain from the night before, or at least Jacob had hoped it was drool. She didn’t seem to notice and sat on it regardless, so he didn’t say anything about it.
He turned on the television and the console and grabbed his controller. This time, he didn’t offer it to Celeste, knowing she’d decline. The title screen flashed, and Jacob noticed something he’d never noticed before
- a name dearly familiar to him, Celeste Cline. He didn’t know Celeste’s last name, but the observation was very disconcerting. He turned to look at her once the credits had vanished. Her eyes stayed on the screen, maintaining the blank face she’d had earlier.
“Ready?” he asked her.
“Yes,” she said quietly. “I hope there aren’t any jump scares this time around.”
“Maybe not,” Jacob said, finally turning his attention back to the screen and hitting ‘continue.’
The screen prompted him to name the final boss. He didn’t even hesitate.
“C-O-D-Y,” he spelled as he keyed it in.
Celeste glanced over at him with apparent concern. “Are you sure? I mean, the last guy died.”
“I’m sure,” Jacob said, smiling at her. “I told you, it’s coincidental. It’s just a game, right?”
“If you’re sure,” she said, but before she could even finish talking, he’d already hit enter.
The screen flashed and went black before a black and green forest appeared in night vision. The screen moved as though someone were holding a camera. A man’s back was turned to the camera as they walked through the woods. The edges of the screen blurred into nothingness, but his back was entirely visible. His movements were exaggerated slightly. It dawned on Jacob that the man was drunk as he laughed stupidly, occasionally looking back at the camera and talking. The face was blurred out, and his voice had been modified so that it was unidentifiable and his words were entirely incomprehensible. He seemed happy, though, which left Jacob with an uneasy feeling he couldn’t shake.
“This can’t be good,” Jacob said, shifting in his seat.
Some large black object hit the man in the back, knocking him onto the ground with ease. The camera lowered to the man on the ground, who was struggling to make it back onto his feet. A very shiny, toothed metal object appeared in front of the camera. It resembled a saw. Whoever was behind the camera was clearly showing it off. The camera moved to a side view of the man’s legs, and slowly, the saw began moving across the back of his thighs. Agonizing screams screeched out of the speakers as black splashes gushed everywhere, even leaving drops on the camera lens. The louder the man screamed, the faster the saw slid back and forth as a pool of darkness surrounded the rest of his figure on the ground. The screaming was ceaseless, and the gushing darkness seemed endless. Jacob could no longer tell the man’s legs from the darkness around him. All he could see was the glint of the saw.
The saw stopped after some time, and the camera moved somewhere in front of the man’s face, dropped among the grass. He still screamed, but it was obvious that he was looking somewhere behind the camera. With his hands stretched out, he tried to crawl closer to the camera with what strength he had left. He crawled until he seemed to be about a foot away, before his body stopped moving completely. The screen stayed like that, and would stay like that, Jacob assumed.
He got up and reset the console, but the screen merely stayed black. It refused to even return to the title screen. Thinking maybe it was the console itself, he took the disc out and inserted another. It worked just fine. He reinserted Undertaker, but the screen stayed pitch black.
“Huh,” Celeste murmured quietly, her eyes stared into the blankness of our reflections.
“Yep. That seems to be the end of it. Unless I broke it somehow. That game was way too short,” he said, turning his eyes to hers. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Her face looked as blank as the screen she was looking into. “Celeste?”
“Yeah?” she said, finally facing him with a small smile.
“Are you and Cody seeing each other?” Jacob asked nervously. He wanted to know, but he was afraid of the answer.
“Of course not,” she laughed. “Why would we?”
“Oh,” Jacob said with a sigh of relief.
“It’s been really fun playing this game with you, Jacob,” she said with a smile. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
The game hadn’t been terribly fun in his opinion, but he decided against objecting. He did like spending time with her. Those haunting feelings that he’d been carrying about Celeste’s true intentions melted under her hand.
“Would you like to play another game?” Jacob asked, pointing to a pile of games next to the television.
“I think that’s enough for me tonight,” she said, getting off the couch and stretching with a sleepy yawn. “I’ll see you later.”
Jacob watched her walk out the door, noting to himself that she’d failed to mention anything about coming back the next day. He didn’t think twice before slipping his shoes on and grabbing a flashlight. Peeking out the door, he watched Celeste enter her room. He walked out of the apartment building and waited by some vending machines, praying to himself silently that she wouldn’t be leaving the building. Less than ten minutes later, she walked down the stairs with her large black bag. She was dressed in her usual Friday night attire, full makeup. She was absolutely stunning when she walked out of the building, taking no notice of Jacob beside the vending machines.
Jacob followed her down the street until she got on a bus. He didn’t know where the bus was headed, but he knew where to go. He went to the university campus and waited. He’d wait there all night if he had to. He was the reason Cody had gotten into danger, and he’d have to be the one to save him. An hour and a half passed of Jacob hiding in some bushes between where the campus ended and the forest began, but he never saw anyone. He began pacing around the area anxiously, until the night’s silence was broken.
Vaguely inhuman screams echoed from somewhere in the forest. Jacob’s heart almost jumped out of his chest, but he started running toward the screams and cursing himself for not being more careful, and for not seeing them enter the woods in the first place. He should’ve walked the whole perimeter, he thought. The screaming became more and more frantic, and Jacob remembered how the scene in the game had played out. It sent excruciating chills up his spine as he ran, gradually getting closer as they got quieter and quieter. That’s when he knew it was too late.
He finally found Cody in a clearing, lying helplessly in a pool of his own blood. Everything from the middle of his thigh down to his feet lay a couple feet away from the rest of his body. Jacob shined the flashlight around, catching the glint of the saw sparkling with blood. He slowly raised the flashlight. Cody’s arms were stretched out on the ground toward a camera recording in the tall grass. Just past the camera, Celeste stood watching Cody with the satisfied eyes of a predator.
“Why?” Jacob asked, shining the light right into her face. “He didn’t tell you I had the game, did he?”
She looked up at Jacob as though she had completely ignored his presence up until that point.
“Why do you want to make video games, Jacob?” she asked with a sly smile.
“Creating something makes me feel like..“ his voice trailed off.
“Like a god?” she asked, walking slowly to Jacob.
“Yes, I guess so,” he said, standing his ground.
“And why do you play them? Why does anyone?”
“For fun,” Jacob answered without a second thought. She was right in front of him at that point, so close he could touch her.
“For escape,” she retorted, gently leaning into him for a hug. Her breath against his neck sent butterflies through his stomach.
“But why kill people?” Jacob asked. He was still unable to push her away, or even accept the things he’d seen.
“That, sweetie, is the ultimate escape,” she whispered into his ear as she plunged a knife into his chest. She kissed his cheek as she twisted the knife around in his gut with playful ease.
Breath escaped him as the pain tore through his entire being. He looked into her green eyes without the least bit of hate. He was still looking for anything inside that showed even a hint of feeling, feeling for him. He didn’t find anything at all.
“You could have been my escape,” he said finally before losing his balance and fal
ling to his knees. Blood gushed out of his wound, and what didn’t just pooled up on his sweater.
“But I am now,” she said, smiling down at him with something in her eyes that resembled adoration.
His eyes stayed open, shining the flashlight at her beautiful face until he finally drifted away in the embrace her gaze.
BONUS STORY
Frankie closed the trailer door and winced when it gave a loud click as it shut. She stood in the cold air in her denim shorts and her brother’s old Van Halen t-shirt and listened. She could hear only the birds slowly waking up in the pale blue morning light. She half-expected to hear the familiar thunder of her daddy’s voice to come through, demanding breakfast and coffee, but he hadn’t seen eight in the morning since he lost his job five years ago, so she felt safe enough. She touched the five dollars in her pocket to make sure it was still there, then she headed towards the woods.
Happy Heavens was enormous as trailer parks went around here, but Frankie had it all mapped out it her head with the quietest routes to anywhere she’d want to go at any time of day or night. It helped that their two-tone rust bucket of a trailer was in the far back, near the woods, with no neighbors. If she needed to go to the store right now, she knew who would still be asleep and who would leave her alone if they happened to see her passing. She knew exactly how to avoid any assholes and do-gooders. It was a five-minute run; speed was important when daddy was out of beer. If she had a half-hour free from chores and had finished her latest library book then she could get to the playground in the suburb nearby in ten minutes without having to see anyone who knew her. They had fewer swings and only a pretty pathetic baby’s slide there, but Happy Heavens’ playground was where all the dealers hung out, so that was a no-go zone. Her daddy told her she was too old for swings at fourteen. She thought maybe that’s why she still liked them, because he didn’t.
Today, Frankie was headed to the east side of town, so she had to walk through the woods at the edge of the trailer park for a while to avoid a couple of the biggest assholes, then cut through for the last third of the park and come out onto the road safe and sound and unseen.
