A flash of light. That's all Hemming saw on his screen. A flash of light, a bolt of lightning. An exploding roar of thunder makes him cringe as more superheated electricity reflects across the cracked glass screen.

Heart palpitating, a glossy sheen slicking his forehead, Hemming turns in his seat back to his game. Hemming's head spasms left, left, left, dragging it down in quick jerking motions. On Minecraft, Herobrine grunts and slides backward as he's struck down by more, invisible weapons.

"Hemming? Hemming, where are you?"

"A-a..." Hemming takes a breath rubs his temples with the insides of his wrists. "A glitch." he whimpers, glancing nervously at the lighting arching in the wicked clouds outside his window. Relax. Calm down. The storm is still far away, the lightning isn't that close yet!

"O-oh! Describe, please!" Hemming squeezes his eyes shut as Herobrine "UH!" for the last time. The red screen of death.

Markus gasps in excitement as he fwips his notebook to a fresh page, labeling it discreetly: "BT-ing w/ Salt" so Jens and the others don't get suspicious. "Please, Hem, describe what happened!"

"I clicked 'respawn'," Hemming swallows hard and punctures his lower lip with his teeth. A metallic taste permeates inside of his mouth, making him moan and sob. "A-a-and I s-s... Started to spawn back at yer home, but-but then I spawned somewhere dark and I got attacked!" His voice raises to a hysterical pitch, and he grips the edge of his table enough so splinters stab into his fingers and palms. "Poor Herobrine died twice in two minutes!"

"Glitch number... 374. Date..." Markus starts to mutter to himself over the webcam audio. Hemming ignores him, instead flicking his nervous gaze back to the lightning in the distance. "...Hem, you still there?"

"Y-yeah." Hemming's head twitches for a brief moment before he turns back to his computer. "I'm... I'm still here, Markus." He takes a deep, shuddering breath and rubs his arms, barring his teeth in a snarl to frighten away bad memories.

"Try to respawn again." Markus looks up from his notebook and smiles reassuringly at the webcam; despite knowing Hemming doesn't have his camera feed up, he still tries to comfort him, at least in the hopes that he'll feel the smile from where he is. "It's alright, Hem, it was just a glitch."

"Mm." Hemming purses his trembling lower lip tight and cautiously moves his mouse to the "respawn" button. But before he could apply pressure to the mouse clicker, something flicks in the corner of the screen. Frowning, Hemming leans forward closer to the computer. Another flick. Mobs, yes. But...

A player's blocky legs come into view directly in Herobrine's field of vision. The same skin as he. Glitch. The legs glitch. Glitch. Hemming stares deep into the block legs, an unsettling chill flooding through his muscles, freezing his hand. Glitch.

"Hemming?"

"Markus." Hemming says quietly, not taking his eyes off of the mysterious player's legs.

"You alright? Have you respawned yet? You didn't spawn-glitch again, did you?" Markus teases.

"Markus..." Hemming twists his mouth, trying to describe it. "A-another player."

"Zombie." he answers simply. "I don't have anyone else but you playing."

"It's not groaning, Markus."

The player shifts off-screen, then walks back into Herobrine's point of view. The player, now from a distance, gazes at Herobrine, revealing his full avatar. Hemming can barely see him - though better than earlier as the red-tinted screen, usually so ominous, helps to reveal his frightening surroundings - but feels him. Feels his hot stare fixated on the younger brother of Markus, the Salt Hero, the poor, unemployed, inexperienced gamer who finds himself at quite a predicament. If no other person other than he and Markus were playing...

"...that would make them a hacker, now wouldn't it?" Hemming mutters, folding his hands in front of his face in pondering thought.

"Er, what was that?" Markus asks. His webcam audio crackles as if he were adjusting the mic on his headset.

"Nothin'." his brother says, dropping his pale eye's jittery stare to the floor. Thunder booms in the distance. If there's really a hacker in this game... Then that must mean he must know things... Things about "Minecraft" that I don't know. And he also knows that, unless Markus is a cut-rate excuse for a online gamer, there is someone else playing with my brother! This hacker could tell Jens and get Markus in trouble for something that I have done! A-and then, once Jens knows, he could fire Markus-!

"Hey, Markus?" Hemming swallows hard and rubs his neck as another spasm jerks it hard to his left.

"What is it, Hem?"

"I-I'ma gonna respawn now, okay?"

"Um..." Markus blinks and raises an eyebrow. "Sure..? I thought you already did, but..." He shrugs and smiles widely. "Go ahead."

Shuddering as the hacker's cold stare stays trailed on Herobrine's invisible body, Hemming - cautiously, for fear of more "surprises" - moves his arrow to the "respawn" tile. His screen instantly turns white, but Hemming hadn't hit "respawn" yet.

Hemming shrieks and cowers as booming thunder, accompanied by cruel lightning, lances and crackles outside his window. He gasps - hyperventilating as nightmarish memories resurface - and slams his hands over his ears, covered by the headset, curling up in his chair. No, no, nonono, NO!

Markus jumps as the webcam conversation suddenly crackles dead. He, perplexed, taps the little headset mic and tentatively calls out Hemming's name.

"Hemming..? Hemming, you alright? What happened?"

Another weather warning.

"Hemming? HEMMING?!"