Greqoh
12-14-2005, 02:14 PM
Pixels
by L. Greqoh
Sheila tied her long black hair back.
She checked her cell phone. No missed calls.
She dialed his number again.
John wasn't answering. She began to worry, her Asian eyes squinted in contemplation. Her boyfriend had not looked well at school today. He had deep black circles under his eyes and his skin looked sickeningly off white in color.
He had eaten lunch with her in the noisy cafeteria earlier that day. He tried in vain to choke down the disgusting soy flavored burgers and generic rock hard fries.
Finally, John pushed his tray away with a grimace.
"I have something to show you," he had said as he reached into his coat. He handed her a game disc. She noticed a slight tremor in his hands.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
He nodded, his long dark brown bangs hanging in his eyes.
"I just haven't been getting much sleep the last few nights since I got this. You know me," he smiled as he finished his coke.
"Yeah, last time you got into that Fatal Frame game you missed three days of school!" she reminded him as she gave up on the grotesque school pizza.
"You have to try this game," he said with an odd sense of urgency as he reach over the table and took one of her hands. "You just have to play it to belive it..."
"What is it?" she asked curiously looking at the disc.
"You know my friend Anthony? He works at that small game development place in the city."
"Yeah, that weird satanic guy who never talks hardly. He gives me the creeps." she answered as she wadded her napkin over the abandoned tray. She took out a mirror from her purse and began checking her makeup.
"The guy is a genius! He even has started making his own games...He made some copies of this," John continued, "He says that it uses a new technology that is going to revolutionize the gaming industry."
Sheila rolled her eyes.
"He wants us to try out one of his beata copies." John continued as he brushed back his long brown bangs.
"Is it good?" Sheila asked.
John just looked at her and nodded as if it was too good for words. "Oohhh, yeah....I heard it's real good," he answered.
The prison like siren went off ending lunch. She asked him "What time are you coming over tonight?"
"Probably around seven, but I promise I won't stand you up again," he said as he leaned over the table and kissed her.
"You better not," she smiled, "i get scared playing this kind of stuff alone. I need you to...protect me," she said seductively as she squeezed his inner thigh under the table.
#
When Sheila came home early that evening, her mother wasn't home. She lived alone with her since her parents divorce.
She put her keys and the cd down and went into the kitchen to get some soda. She tied back her long black hair. Her eyes fell upon the disc; it lay on the counter.
Sighing heavily she picked it up. She stopped and looked curiously at the coffee table where she was sure that she had left it. She looked back perplexed at the keys on the coffee table and then at the disc in front of her.
She poured a glass of Mountain Dew and went to her cluttered room. She looked through the worn jewel case at the unlabeled disc inside. An intuitive sense of dread flooded her heart as she opened the case and took the disc out. She stared at its mirror like surface for several seconds before walking to the modded Playstation and opening the console's drawer. It sounded like a knife coming unsheathed as it slid out. She put the disc in it and before she could press the button it closed itself. The PS2 logo appeared before the screen went black.
The developers logo "Qlipothic Abyss" appeared proudly on the screen. Suddenly, it appeared as if her Playstation malfunctioned...The screen flashed like a red strobe light.
Inexplicably, the lights in the room began to flutter as
a horribly dissonant arrangement of synthesized music erupted from her television. It sent chills up her spinal cord to the back of her neck, like nails being drawn slowly over a chalk board. It was the most hideous cacophony of sound she had ever heard composed, utterly vulgar in it's lack of any melodic or harmonic structure. Its rhythm played against her heartbeat, pulsating in odd unpredictable places.
A constant percussive bass drum had entrained her own heart's pace, entrancing it along with her breath as the droning sound continued from the television's small speakers.
"Put your hand on the screen..." a voice requested.
An red outline of a hand appeared on the black screen. It pulsated to the otherworldly music. Sheila stared at it as the voice repeated with agitation "Put your hand on the screen!"
Feeling foolish she placed her sweaty palm on the cold glass. She lined up her fingers perfectly to the hand and waited as it began to flash faster and faster.
The black screen flickered to life.
A dim hallway appeared, barely discernible, yet somehow familiar. The arranged pictures on the wall, the mirror just at the end of the hallway right before the door; it was just like her house. She looked in disbelief. Nothing moved or changed; the game waited... Sheila reached for the controller. She put her sweaty thumb on the analog stick and the camera view began to move down the hallway toward the mirror. She could just barely discern a faint figure standing before it in the reflection. The face was blacked out by the shadows.
Sheila turned and looked at the door feeling foolish.
"I hate these games...but why do I love them so much?" she thought as she turned back to the television. She could hear the breathing of the character, faint but fast and excited; it seemed to keep pace with her own.
Sheila laughed at her own immaturity as she fought back the desire to turn the game off, to run as fast as she could to the window and bolt outside to safety. Using discipline, she held her ground as she turned the viewpoint to the door and pressed the x button that she guessed would open it. She heard a sound behind her. She quickly turned around. The door behind her had opened.
She dropped the controller to the beige carpet and walked slowly to the hallway. "Mom? Are you home?" she asked.
The mocking silence was deafening. A quick walk to the front door revealed that no one was home. She felt total alienation, the drowning sense of being totally alone when not another soul on the earth knows what you are doing or thinking.
On the way back to her room she took out her cell phone and called her best friend Jeanie. Only her recorded message answered. Sheila hung up without leaving a message.
Again shame overcame her. She would be seventeen soon and here she was still afraid of her own shadows and bumps in the night. She must not have shut her door all the way; it came open on its own. That was the adult way of understanding things.
A new sound came from the game now; it was a pronounced heartbeat strong, hard and at a quickened pace. Sheila could feel it in her own chest. Angered at her foolishness she shut the poster covered door to her room and picked up the controller again. She moved the view point into the room where she recoiled in horror at what she saw.
The walls in the room were covered with posters of metal bands; Nevermore, Therion, Opeth, Tool. A messy unmade bed was in the corner and in the middle of the room someone was laying on the floor in front of a television set that sat on a small dresser. It was her room, there was no doubt!
She directed the viewpoint towards the body that lay on the floor and angled the view directly over it. It was a young Asian teenage girl with long black hair like silk and pronounced black eyeliner and ruby red lipstick. Her eyes were still open staring back through the screen. She could hear hysterical laughter coming from the young girl. She moved in closer as the girl looked back right into the camera view, her eyes enflamed with madness as she pointed and began to giggle.
Sheila dropped the controller and put her hand over her mouth as she took several steps backwards.It was her!
Feeling watched she spun around quickly. The world began to spin; the music continued. Sheila quickly tried to turn the Playstation off; it wouldn't stop.... She pulled the plug from the wall, but to her horror, the game continued.
Sheila staggered back in shock as the girl on the screen began to get up, her head hanging down, her long bangs concealing all of her face except her dark red lips that stretched into a psychotic smile.
All the sound from the game had stopped now except a throbbing heart like beating. It was slow and heavy. Sheila could hear her own breath even over it.
Using all of her will she regained control over her legs and raced into the kitchen. She opened one of the drawers and took out a long butcher knife. Its mirror like blade caught the light, shining like some kind of mystical object.
by L. Greqoh
Sheila tied her long black hair back.
She checked her cell phone. No missed calls.
She dialed his number again.
John wasn't answering. She began to worry, her Asian eyes squinted in contemplation. Her boyfriend had not looked well at school today. He had deep black circles under his eyes and his skin looked sickeningly off white in color.
He had eaten lunch with her in the noisy cafeteria earlier that day. He tried in vain to choke down the disgusting soy flavored burgers and generic rock hard fries.
Finally, John pushed his tray away with a grimace.
"I have something to show you," he had said as he reached into his coat. He handed her a game disc. She noticed a slight tremor in his hands.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
He nodded, his long dark brown bangs hanging in his eyes.
"I just haven't been getting much sleep the last few nights since I got this. You know me," he smiled as he finished his coke.
"Yeah, last time you got into that Fatal Frame game you missed three days of school!" she reminded him as she gave up on the grotesque school pizza.
"You have to try this game," he said with an odd sense of urgency as he reach over the table and took one of her hands. "You just have to play it to belive it..."
"What is it?" she asked curiously looking at the disc.
"You know my friend Anthony? He works at that small game development place in the city."
"Yeah, that weird satanic guy who never talks hardly. He gives me the creeps." she answered as she wadded her napkin over the abandoned tray. She took out a mirror from her purse and began checking her makeup.
"The guy is a genius! He even has started making his own games...He made some copies of this," John continued, "He says that it uses a new technology that is going to revolutionize the gaming industry."
Sheila rolled her eyes.
"He wants us to try out one of his beata copies." John continued as he brushed back his long brown bangs.
"Is it good?" Sheila asked.
John just looked at her and nodded as if it was too good for words. "Oohhh, yeah....I heard it's real good," he answered.
The prison like siren went off ending lunch. She asked him "What time are you coming over tonight?"
"Probably around seven, but I promise I won't stand you up again," he said as he leaned over the table and kissed her.
"You better not," she smiled, "i get scared playing this kind of stuff alone. I need you to...protect me," she said seductively as she squeezed his inner thigh under the table.
#
When Sheila came home early that evening, her mother wasn't home. She lived alone with her since her parents divorce.
She put her keys and the cd down and went into the kitchen to get some soda. She tied back her long black hair. Her eyes fell upon the disc; it lay on the counter.
Sighing heavily she picked it up. She stopped and looked curiously at the coffee table where she was sure that she had left it. She looked back perplexed at the keys on the coffee table and then at the disc in front of her.
She poured a glass of Mountain Dew and went to her cluttered room. She looked through the worn jewel case at the unlabeled disc inside. An intuitive sense of dread flooded her heart as she opened the case and took the disc out. She stared at its mirror like surface for several seconds before walking to the modded Playstation and opening the console's drawer. It sounded like a knife coming unsheathed as it slid out. She put the disc in it and before she could press the button it closed itself. The PS2 logo appeared before the screen went black.
The developers logo "Qlipothic Abyss" appeared proudly on the screen. Suddenly, it appeared as if her Playstation malfunctioned...The screen flashed like a red strobe light.
Inexplicably, the lights in the room began to flutter as
a horribly dissonant arrangement of synthesized music erupted from her television. It sent chills up her spinal cord to the back of her neck, like nails being drawn slowly over a chalk board. It was the most hideous cacophony of sound she had ever heard composed, utterly vulgar in it's lack of any melodic or harmonic structure. Its rhythm played against her heartbeat, pulsating in odd unpredictable places.
A constant percussive bass drum had entrained her own heart's pace, entrancing it along with her breath as the droning sound continued from the television's small speakers.
"Put your hand on the screen..." a voice requested.
An red outline of a hand appeared on the black screen. It pulsated to the otherworldly music. Sheila stared at it as the voice repeated with agitation "Put your hand on the screen!"
Feeling foolish she placed her sweaty palm on the cold glass. She lined up her fingers perfectly to the hand and waited as it began to flash faster and faster.
The black screen flickered to life.
A dim hallway appeared, barely discernible, yet somehow familiar. The arranged pictures on the wall, the mirror just at the end of the hallway right before the door; it was just like her house. She looked in disbelief. Nothing moved or changed; the game waited... Sheila reached for the controller. She put her sweaty thumb on the analog stick and the camera view began to move down the hallway toward the mirror. She could just barely discern a faint figure standing before it in the reflection. The face was blacked out by the shadows.
Sheila turned and looked at the door feeling foolish.
"I hate these games...but why do I love them so much?" she thought as she turned back to the television. She could hear the breathing of the character, faint but fast and excited; it seemed to keep pace with her own.
Sheila laughed at her own immaturity as she fought back the desire to turn the game off, to run as fast as she could to the window and bolt outside to safety. Using discipline, she held her ground as she turned the viewpoint to the door and pressed the x button that she guessed would open it. She heard a sound behind her. She quickly turned around. The door behind her had opened.
She dropped the controller to the beige carpet and walked slowly to the hallway. "Mom? Are you home?" she asked.
The mocking silence was deafening. A quick walk to the front door revealed that no one was home. She felt total alienation, the drowning sense of being totally alone when not another soul on the earth knows what you are doing or thinking.
On the way back to her room she took out her cell phone and called her best friend Jeanie. Only her recorded message answered. Sheila hung up without leaving a message.
Again shame overcame her. She would be seventeen soon and here she was still afraid of her own shadows and bumps in the night. She must not have shut her door all the way; it came open on its own. That was the adult way of understanding things.
A new sound came from the game now; it was a pronounced heartbeat strong, hard and at a quickened pace. Sheila could feel it in her own chest. Angered at her foolishness she shut the poster covered door to her room and picked up the controller again. She moved the view point into the room where she recoiled in horror at what she saw.
The walls in the room were covered with posters of metal bands; Nevermore, Therion, Opeth, Tool. A messy unmade bed was in the corner and in the middle of the room someone was laying on the floor in front of a television set that sat on a small dresser. It was her room, there was no doubt!
She directed the viewpoint towards the body that lay on the floor and angled the view directly over it. It was a young Asian teenage girl with long black hair like silk and pronounced black eyeliner and ruby red lipstick. Her eyes were still open staring back through the screen. She could hear hysterical laughter coming from the young girl. She moved in closer as the girl looked back right into the camera view, her eyes enflamed with madness as she pointed and began to giggle.
Sheila dropped the controller and put her hand over her mouth as she took several steps backwards.It was her!
Feeling watched she spun around quickly. The world began to spin; the music continued. Sheila quickly tried to turn the Playstation off; it wouldn't stop.... She pulled the plug from the wall, but to her horror, the game continued.
Sheila staggered back in shock as the girl on the screen began to get up, her head hanging down, her long bangs concealing all of her face except her dark red lips that stretched into a psychotic smile.
All the sound from the game had stopped now except a throbbing heart like beating. It was slow and heavy. Sheila could hear her own breath even over it.
Using all of her will she regained control over her legs and raced into the kitchen. She opened one of the drawers and took out a long butcher knife. Its mirror like blade caught the light, shining like some kind of mystical object.