The dreams. The nightmares that had once plagued Alex's sub-conscious mind….the vicious dreams of terror and emptiness….gone. Finally, they were gone. Replaced by the echoes of smashing plastic, ripping wires. The eerie, lonely light now replaced by the warm and welcoming glow of a fire burning away at the cartridge.

The game was destroyed. "BEN" was finally gone. Perhaps gone forever, but Alex couldn't be so sure. Could that….thing, whatever it had been-could it really die? Perhaps it could be trapped between dimensions, somehow cemented between the electrical currents that had ran through each wire as it was ripped so cleanly in half.

But one could never be too sure.

Alex had certainly learned that after playing that game. The days he'd spent playing that worn, passed-over copy of Majora's Mask, trying to reach the secret of all that was happening to his life, to find the root of this ominous, vicious evil that was plaguing his every waking-and sleeping-moment…...they had taught him that no one was truly safe, ever. That there is much more to life than what we say walking down the street to the neighborhood deli in the foolish hopes of sinking one's teeth in the delicate, lightly-toasted white bread of a chicken parmesan sandwich.

You never know what could be lurking in the corners of your eye, waiting to be approached.

But there were no worries now. It was over. He would be going back to college soon, and would never again have to worry about "BEN" or that horrible, awful game. He had destroyed all remnants of any equipment that had been used to host that horrible-

Alex's eyes popped open in terror, and he sat up in bed.

His capture card. Alex owned a Szandor™ brand video capture device, which he had used to connect his Nintendo 64 console to his PC, in order to record the horrific, warped gameplay that had occurred. He had forgotten all about it….

Alex stumbled out of his room. I have to find it, he thought frantically to himself. Where the fuck did I leave that thing? He went out to his living room. He'd had it when he stopped recording videos of the game, hadn't he? Yes….he had disconnected it from his computer and put it away somewhere. Think, Alex, think…...he racked his brain, pounding lightly on his temples in an effort to jar his memory. Suddenly, it came back to him. He had a small chest underneath his bed where he kept his electronic equipment. He had put the capture card in there.

He hurried back to the bedroom, flicking the light on, and rushed to his bed. Dropping to all fours, he reached under his bed and pulled out the small wooden chest. He flipped it open….

It was empty.

Nothing. All his electronics…..his Gameboy Advance, his DS, everything…...gone. Including the capture card. The capture card that may or may not have BEN's spirit still inside it…..but how?

He froze. No, it couldn't be. He….he had left his door unlocked a couple weeks ago, when he had gone out to buy groceries. When he had come back, a concerned neighbor had warned him that some suspicious-looking characters had been snooping around the house. Worried, Alex had gone inside and searched everywhere, but nothing seemed to be missing. Even his TV was still in place.

But he had neglected to search the chest.

Now never mind how stupid those burglars must have been to steal only a few electronics from a small little chest under a bed. Maybe they just wanted their crimes to go unnoticed long enough for them to skip town. The real issue at hand was…..could BEN really have been residing in that capture card? He knew that whatever it was traveled through cables and wires. However, last he had heard of BEN, the thing was still inside the video game cartridge. But….the thing seemed to have been able to travel to and from his computer even without it being connected to the gaming system, ever since the first time Alex had connected it. It was as if as soon as Alex connected the devices, the creature had created some kind of bond with the machine….I don't know. But the point is, it was scary.

No….no, Alex told himself. BEN was not out there somewhere, hiding in his stolen capture card. He may as well perish the thought. He had destroyed the video game cartridge that was BEN's main host, and BEN most likely died with it. He-it-was gone. Gone for good.

Alex, still trembling, crept into his bathroom, hoping to get some cold water splashed upon his face to calm his nerves. As soon as he flicked on the bathroom light, however, he froze in horror.

He could have sworn that in his bathroom mirror, in that one split second, he saw that haunting Link statue that had plagued his dreams for so long, standing behind him. But when he spun around...there was nothing.

Alex's heart began to beat quickly. No….it couldn't be. Please, God, let it be just tricks of the mind…..

Just as Alex was about to take another step, he heard the haunting chuckle of the Happy Mask Salesman, echoing through his house.