Silent

I hear the sound of footsteps on tile. The sound of static gets louder and louder, accompanied by sounds nothing natural could make.

Then Beast Boy screams.

"Oh, c'mon, Raven! That didn't scare you?"

I look up from my book.

"Sorry. I was reading."

"In the dark?"

"That's why I have a flashlight."

Beast Boy unpauses his game. I see a female character wander around in what looks like a dilapitated shop, old manniquin parts laying astrewn on the floor along side...

"What are those things?"

"Numb bodies. They attack by slamming into you."

The woman- who it seems Beast Boy controls- wanders out into a hall. I'm guessing this filthy, derelict place is a mall or department store of some sort, but those gurneys with the dead bodies on them make me wonder otherwise.

Azar above, what kind of game is this?

"Huh. I didn't think-"

I almost jump as the woman is attacked by a bandaged dog, it's head splitting open to gnaw on the protagonist's leg. She hits it again and again with a rusty pipe, then gives it a couple kicks when it finally falls, blood pooling around the body.

I raise an eyebrow.

"Think I was kidding when I told you it was dark?"

Beast Boy's voice is a little shaky. I want to laugh at him for being scared of a game, but from what little I've seen, maybe he has valid reason for his fear.

"Ah, dude! I hate this part!"

The woman's now in what looks like a very normal resturaunt. The reddish lighting unnerves me a little, but it all seems normal enough. But then she walks over to a table with the biggest, ugliest roasted pig I've ever seen resting on it.

With much hesitation, Beast Boy hits a button, making her examine it.

As I read the following text, I really wish he didn't do that.

"That's a dog!"

Beast Boy suddenly looks a few shades greener.

"Oh man! I...I can't do this! You take over, Raven!"

He leaps over the couch, tossing me the controller as he makes a mad dash for the bathroom.

Maybe it's out of morbid curiousity, but I push the same button Beast Boy did, advancing the text.

Seems I've found a key in a rather...stomache churning place. And- much to my surprise- my avatar on the screen expresses that she's just as grossed out as I am.

I grip the controller. This place seems safe enough to practice, so I push random buttons. I hit the corpse of the poor dog by accident. Then I find myself in an inventory screen. With some fumbling, I think I have a handle on what I'm doing.

I browse through what's available, then arm myself with the pistol. After examining the bulletproof vest, I forgoe putting it on. I have the distinct feeling I'd rather run than fight.

I look through the health restoration items and ammunition. When the woman comments on how the jerky is meant for dogs, that mummified hellhound comes to mind. I equip it and hope I'll find the "befriend undead splitting head dog" button when the time comes.

I'm feeling fairly confident at this point, so I step out. The dead dog's still there, still dead. As I walk through it's blood, I notice the bloody bootprints my character is making.

"Interesting amount of detail in this game."

No one responds. I was talking to myself, of course, so I wasn't really expecting a response. But this music...it disturbs me, somehow. It almost makes me with Beast Boy were back.

Me and my digital friend traverse the moldy, bloody wreckage of the mall. I gasp as she teeters on the edge of a gap that doesn't belong there, nearly falling into oblivion as we run away from flying torsos and mummy dogs. I clench my teeth as we squeeze by tall humanoids with grotesquely swollen arms. We explore and examine this sick, decayed world together, a bit of humor here and there to keep us sane.

We climb down together into a deep darkness that might very well be the heart of this unholy world. When we reach the bottom, she looks around. The ladder is shattered offscreen by some unknown force. And then, right when I was foolish enough to let my guard down...

A giant purple penis bursts out of a hole in the wall and splits open, revealing a mouth nothing natural on this or any world would have.

I want to smirk at how Freudian this scene is. I can't, though. I'm too worried about the fate of the young lady that I've guided through this hell thus far. I hadn't brought her this far to have her be devoured by mutant genitalia.

I shoot at the creature's exposed maw, but get knocked down as I get nothing but clicks. I frantically try to get her up by slamming the buttons, and she finally rises. I enter my inventory to administer healing, and notice the screen to the upper left is in red. I use a first aid kit, and it turns a healthier shade of green. I arm myself with the rusted pipe and- with a few lucky blows- the phallic monster dies and reality as both me and the character I control knows it fades back in.

We walk down the hall and enter a normal looking burger place. Upon examine the occult symbol we find, I'm prompted to save my game, and myself the trouble of reliving that expirence. Then we move along in an attempt to exit this accursed place.

This person I've been controlling- Heather, her name is- has a talk with what seems to be a private iinvestigator. Apparently, that nightmare was real, and Heather feels like she has something to do with it.

Now why does that sound familiar?

As she heads down into the subway, I turn the game off.

No scores. No health meters with cartoon hearts next to them. Just darkness and decay and unnatural, ungodly sounds given off by unnatural, ungodly things. I'm a little shocked someone actually made this.

I go back to my room to turn in for the night. My pace is oddly quicker than usual. The sound of my footsteps echoing through the hall is a little unnerving. It's like I'm alone...or not, rather. It's like I'm in the presense of something I don't see, lurking just outside my field of vision. But I make it to my room without encountering flying torsos or splitting penis worms.

I browse over my bookshelf. I don't see anything that will ease the nightmares that will plague my mind tonight. That's really saying something.

I slip under the covers and shut my eyes. It sounds a little too quiet tonight.

Oh well. I don't hear static, at least.