It was around 5 in the afternoon Washington, DC. I had just finished setting up for Samhain, and was getting ready for the opening blessing. Tonight was the night that the veil between this world, the world of the dead and other places was the thinnest, so I had to be careful.

My best friend Jazzy was in the other room, finishing up some last minute adjustments and art for our video game called Cursed One. Normally Jazzy and me would've waited until after Samhain to finish the game, but we had managed by some miracle to get several YouTube gamers to agree to beta test it, hence the rush. To be honest, I was amazed that these people paid us and this game any mind, but all of them seemed interested. Anyway, we had Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, Danandphilgames, Pewdiepie, Ian Hecox, Anthony Padilla, and Nathan Sharp all waiting for this game to arrive, so Jazzy was making sure everything was perfect.

Shaking my head, I cleared my head and sat down, opening a circle and starting the ritual. Now, I'm not going to explain the exact ritual, as it is a private one that I made just for myself for Samhain. However, since this is a Sabbat of reflection and remembrance – It's the Wiccan equivalent to the Dead of the Dead – I spent time praying to the God and Goddess, as well as offering food to loved ones who had moved on. The entire ritual only lasted about thirty minutes, partially because I was in a bit of a rush.

Once finished I felt relaxed and stretched, absent-mindly closing the circle. This is especially important on Samhain as without closing it spirits and energy can get through and attach to things it's not supposed to. I had almost finished when an excited shout distracted me. Quickly I moved to the bedroom, leaving the ritualistic materials on the floor of the living room.

Making it to the bedroom, I peeked in. Jazzy was grinning ear to ear and waved me over. Her short black hair was tucked behind her ears, held by her tablet pen and she was furiously typing away.

"What's up?" I settled next to her, peering at the screen.

"I'm done!"

"What? Show me!" I demanded, and Jazzy happily turned the screen so I could see it better. She had already pulled up a window with game, and boy did it make me shiver.

The screen was an animation of a young male with light brown hair and eyes. For a few seconds he just stood there, smiling. It then flashed to a shot of him all bloody and hollow eyed, with the equally bloody Title sat above him. While that imaged showed, a faint flash of the words "YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE THE CYCLE" would appear, just barely long enough to read the words.

"Shit, this is amazing, Jazzy." I praised, hugging my friend tightly.

"Right?! All that's left is to bug test it and we can send it off!" She hugged me back, then let me tug her to her feet. With a smile she followed me as I left the room, leaving the game up. Now we had another thing to be thankful for.

I sat on my laptop about midnight, a copy of the game on my screen. Jazzy was curled up next me in bed asleep. We had bug tested the game for hours and she'd finally crashed. I was still up, writing emails and DMs to all of the YouTubers I had contacted about the game, with said game attached.

With a sigh I went to close my laptop, glancing at Jazzy with a smile. My eyes went back to the screen and I bit my lip. Might as well play it, right? I didn't do well with horror games, especially 2D pixelated horror, which is exactly what this was. Still, we had worked so hard, I should try it.

With another sigh, I reopened the game screen and clicked 'New Game' and waited for the screen to load up. This was such a bad idea… now I'm never going to sleep.

Finally, the screen loaded up and I was treated to a lovely view of the front of the abandoned building that served as the setting of the story. Ugh, ghosts and hauntings didn't sit right with me, not when my own philosophy from Wicca is not to mess with shit like this.

Taking a deep breath, I pressed 'New Game'.

I got a view of the opening scene before my vision blacked out and my body slumped over into unconsciousness.

In several other locations in the states and England, seven YouTubers unknowingly did the same, not realizing what is about to happen to them.