It wasn't like in those horror movie settings where it's storming or some incident happened. But it was rather grey, and I felt uneasy. Uh, hang on a sec, let me start from the beginning. I was jolted awake by my dad who told me that my friend Greg had just showed up. I'm not a morning person and it's 10 in the morning. Ugh! What a drag, oh well. We head onto a local book sale where I find a near complete set of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya manga, along with a ebay guide to selling collectables. Greg was looking for Birds of Prey for his dad, but no luck. He did, however, find a book on Eagles and Owls as substitutes.

While leaving the library, Greg gets an idea. "Hey, wanna stop at Game On?" he asked. I agreed to that plan so we head onto his dad's to drop off the books and then stop by the game store. While I was waiting for him to return, I noticed that clouds were moving faster than normal, the trees indicated that a strong wind was coming and it did. "Why do I feel uneasy?" I asked myself. "I sense a storm coming." Maybe my awareness of the weather came from Nami, I don't know.

To calm myself, I sing "We Are", the English version. Of course, nothing happens. When Greg returns, I ask him if everything was okay. It was, thankfully, but what about later? Heading out to Game On, we discuss random video game related topics such as the gaming community itself, on how toxic it has become. I won't name names, but I think you know of whom I speak of.

Turning into the parking lot, I notice a sheriff car parked near the game store. "I hope nothing's wrong." I said, turning my gaze to the black car. "If there is, then bring it on." Exiting the car, we make our way to the store that contains a specific game Greg told me of. That game is, Gex: Enter the Gecko. I've been wanting to play Gex ever since he told me about it. Now, I can make that dream a reality. "Here it is." he said pulling it out. It was $16.99 plus tax. To some, it's too expensive, but to me it's worth it.

Before checking out, we look around and see if there are other games. Two games Greg found were Faxanadu for the NES and Halo 4 for the Xbox 360. He was geeking out at the fact he was holding a boxed copy of Faxanadu. To be honest, I never heard of that game until now. One game I have heard of was Metroid Prime, but sadly I could not afford it along with Kirby Air Ride and Chibi Robo. It was $60! Holy crap! Well, it is a rare gem and it's one of the best GameCube games. Out of all of them, I chose Gex.

Finally, I can play the game and experience it. "I'll admit, I'm a bit nervous." Greg added. The reason was is that he played the N64 version so this is different. However, little did he know that our feelings were indicating something. My brother hooks up the PS1 and pops in the disk. Turning it on, the intro plays, but then it goes black.

"Huh? Is this supposed to happen?" I asked.

"No." Greg answered.

"I'll try buffering it." Ben said taking this disk.

A few moments later, he puts the disk back in. One thing he noticed was that the disc had a crack in the ring. Will it affect the game's performance? Keep reading, my friend.

Now this is where it happens: a distorted Playstation logo appears on the screen with scratchy sounding music. The intro lags along with the music, making it all the more creepy. "What is this, ?" I asked. Greg laughed at that comment. Since it's not working, Ben tries to turn off the PS1, but it doesn't turn off. The TV? It doesn't turn off either. What is going on? The game continues to lag until the opening cutscene plays. Somehow, it plays perfectly and we get excited.

Until…

Static fills the screen and our ears with its dreadful sound. I saw Greg's lips move, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I try to mute the TV or turn down the volume, sadly it did not work. All we could hear was the static. In that mess, we could see two glowing red eyes. "Rez?" we thought. No, it was worse. The curse of Zalgo has taken over our favorite gecko. Somehow, out of all the copies of Gex: Enter the Gecko, this was the one that was cursed.

Yeah, yeah. I know, it's that cliche .exe curse that affects every fictional character. But something was different about this. When a loud burst echoed from the TV, it made me and Greg's insides explode, or so we thought. As it occurred, the lights blew out along with the electricity. Of course, the TV was still on.

"Uh, Ben! What just happened?" I asked. When I turned around, he wasn't there. I look all over the house and he was nowhere to be found along with dad and the dogs. Me and Greg were the only ones left.

"Good afternoon, players!" said a voice on the TV. "Greg, Rebekah, you are about to join me for one heck of a ride."

"That voice...it sounds like Gex only distorted." Greg noted.

"This ain't good!" I said, covering my mouth.

"If you refuse, I will erase your existence from the reality dimension. No one, will remember you."

This shocked us both, but at the same time, we thought it had to be some joke. Yet the evidence is overwhelming. Everyone but us are gone, it's as if Gex took us to an alternate universe to have us to himself. This is unlike any .exe I've experienced! What makes it odd is that it's not on a computer, but on a TV. Why is that? Is it EVEN a .exe game?

"This has to be a joke." I said. "There's no way he can do that!"

"Wanna bet?" he asked. "Play my game and find out for yourself."

I take matters into my own hands by opening the PS1 disc reader, but it doesn't open. I unplug the console, the TV, everything that can generate it power. Nothing works, why? What kind of sick joke is this?

"Stop remaining in denial." the evil gecko said. "I am in complete control of this dimension."

"Rebekah, we don't have any other choice. We have to beat the game." Greg insisted.

"Beat the game?" I asked, going to take it literally.

I put my two hands together, forming one fist and slam it into the PS1. As a result, I get zapped. "Okay, let's do this." I said, grunting in pain. Greg takes the controller and presses circle. We are then taken to the main menu where the TVs are covered in blood, and the scenery is lit in red. The text selections are bloody as well, and the music is different in a creepy way. It seems like it's playing backwards with a hint of distortion. The only thing we can select was "Start". Everything else was just there for show.

With no other choice, we hit start. The hub world was covered with some blood puddles, but from who is a mystery. Of course, that is until we see the heads of Crash, Spyro, Bubsy, Mario, and even Sonic on a stick like a totem pole. "It's the heads of Gex's competition." I gasped. The remains of their bodies are scattered everywhere which make it all the more morbid. I just wonder, who created Zalgo? Why does he exist? How does he possess those in the fictional realm?

The only level we could select was Death Channel. Sounds like fun! Yeah, I'm being sarcastic. Entering the level, it seems normal until we see the level itself. The tune that always plays in .exe games plays. Yep, it's Lavender Town, backwards. The messages it sends to our minds are negative even though we cannot make out what they are saying. Who's they, you ask? Perhaps it's the voices of demons, the ones that caused those children to kill themselves. I think it's more hearsay though.

Moving on, the level is a straightforward graveyard. No platforming was required. Blood was spilled everywhere, the names on the tombstones were just scribbles, and with the fog added in the equation: it made one of the creepiest levels in Gex history. Oh yeah, who were we playing as? It was a gecko like Gex, but he wasn't the one on the cover art. This little guy was still green, he had brown eyes, and a mix of white and purple for the pattern on his back. Does this gecko represent the player?

Strolling through the graveyard, we finally meet the end where Gex stands with his back turned. "It's obviously a trap." I commented. Greg agreed, but we had no choice. Our character was walking towards Gex. It's viewed in first person to make it seem like we're the ones heading for danger. When he turns around, he says, "Thank you for joining me. Let's play!"

The next level opens to what appears to be a spirit world. Screams of others can be heard in the distance. "I never heard these before." I pointed out. I've played .exe games before, and typically the same screams are used. But this was different. However, the same long, deep, "ah" played in the background. I heard this at the end of the first game where you see Japanese writing or an odd poem if you got the true ending. The sky is a mix of red and black, swirling about. Faces of dead people or demons flash on the screen on random occasions. The screams of terror tear us apart on the inside. Are we actually in hell itself?

"I don't like this." I said tearing up from fear.

"Neither do I, but maybe we can win this." Greg hoped.

He could be right, perhaps there is a way to win this thing. I just hope we didn't screw up at the beginning. I keep my eyes and ears open for something unusual. Maybe if I find a special item, it can help us win. That's just wishful thinking though. "Let's turn back!" I screamed. I take the controller and turn our gecko around. Doing so, made chase us.

"Attack him!" I commanded.

"I can't!" Greg said, rapidly pressing circle and every other button.

"Then run!"

We run away in hopes of reaching the end of the level. But the demon gecko catches us and we're shifted to first person again. Gex's eyes are red and black and bleeding just like all .exe victims. When he opens his mouth, we're met with bloodstained, razor sharp teeth with flesh hanging on them. He then devours our gecko and the TV switches to a fuzzy screen. After a few moments of ear piercing static, appears on screen.

"You lost!" he announced. "Now, you will be erased from existence. No one will remember you."

"That's bullcrap!" I yelled. "You can't do that!"

"Allow me to convince you."

At the wave of his hand, I stop breathing. Knowing the demon's power, Greg goes to punch the TV. Just like me, he was zapped. "It is useless to resist. What's done is done. You are trapped in this dimension forever. Enjoy your new lives." The TV turns off and the electricity returns to normal. Thinking it was still a gag, we run outside looking for signs of other people or even animals around. Not a soul in sight. We were the only ones here.

"This can't be true!" I cried. Sadly, it was. The sky was a mix of red and black, just like in the last level we played. Maybe we're in the middle of the recreation of the universe, just like in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. If so, where is she? "Wait! It can be all a dream, a terrible nightmare. Let's try to wake up!" I insisted. We close our eyes, trying to exit this world. In three, two, one...we open our eyes.

What do we see? The nightmare dragged us into. Our hopes were crushed, until we decided to try and destroy the game, the PS1, and the TV all together by burning it, hammering it, and crushing it. In the end, they all remained unscathed.

We shouldn't have played the game. That was the regret that haunts us for all of eternity. Back in the real world, everyone continues to live their normal lives like this never happened. However, the game appears on Game Jolt under the user, "Gecko 1993". If anyone plays it, they will be trapped here with us forever. One by one, poor and unfortunate souls descend to this horrid afterlife. Let's Players like LiNX 4 and Mairusu come here since they play .exe games. Footage of them playing it have all been lost. Any trace of this game is deleted once the player plays it. The only evidence is that it's a game on Game Jolt.

A/N: Thank you for reading my first Creepypasta. I hope you liked it. If you are a game developer, then feel free to make a game. That'd be cool! Anyway, thanks for reading!