Strange Happenings
Midnight. They always came at midnight. The chimes from the old grandfather clock in the den jolted Daniel out of his restless dreams. It wasn't the chimes that woke him so much as the knowledge that They were coming. It was the same horrifying ritual, every single night.
The room was illuminated by an eerie pale green glow. Three figures in haz-mat suits stood around his bed. One of them held a large briefcase, another held a gun, and the third--the apparent leader, from the way he acted--was making entries into a large handheld computer. Daniel tried to escape, to run, to even move, but some unseen force held him in place, as immobile as the bed itself. The leader looked up from his computer and signaled to the one holding the briefcase, who set the case down and began to open it. Daniel strained to see its contents, but couldn't from his position. If only he could move...
The leader reached forward, grabbed the bedcovers and--
The shrill blast of Daniel's alarm clock filled the room. He'd had that dream again, the same one he'd been having every night for nearly a month. Except that it didn't feel like a normal dream. It felt more like a memory, but one that had been partially forgotten. Anyway, Dan had more important things to worry about, so he pushed whatever it was aside for the moment. Today was the last day of school, finally. All he had to do was survive his last few final exams, and he'd be home free. He wasn't about to let a creepy dream get him down.
***
Dr. DiCaoz glanced over his biology classroom. "Is anybody still working on the final?" he asked tiredly. He paused for a moment, then said, "If everybody is finished, you may talk quietly amongst yourselves for the remainder of the period." As the class erupted in chatter, he went back to nursing his hangover.
Daniel loved his biology class. It wasn't just that he was good at it, or that it was the last class of the day. By some bit of luck or fate, he happened to be in the same class as his four closest friends, Gassan, David, Pammy, and Jake. Gassan, David, and Pammy had become absurdly popular since coming to high school. Gassan was Lebanese and therefore "exotic," David was a star swimmer, and Pammy was a cheerleader. In retrospect, popularity was an inevitability. To the other popular kids, Jake an avid follower of the Furry subculture (he called it a craze, but nobody else did) and Daniel, the introspective writer, were social liabilities. Still, Gassan, David, and Pam never let their newfound "friends" keep them away from Jake and Dan. Privately, Daniel was grateful that he had managed to befriend the four people who appeared to be immune to high school drama.
"So, what'd you guys think?" Pammy whispered.
"I'm pretty sure Dr. Di is a nutcase," Gassan answered quickly. He was met with a chorus of approval from his companions.
"Anyway," Pam continued, "are we having our annual Thank-God-The-Schoolyear's-Over party tonight?"
"I can't go," Jake said, "I've got a convention."
"I can't go either," said David, "My dad's taking me camping. He's on a back-to-nature kick."
"I'm visiting my grandma," Gassan said. Pammy rolled her eyes.
"Alright," she sighed, "when do you guys get back?"
"Sunday"
"Sunday evening"
"Sunday, but it'll be late."
"So," Pammy continued, "is Monday night alright with everyone?"
***
The days passed quickly. By the time Monday arrived, he had gone an entire weekend without his mysterious dreams. He was mostly relieved, but part of him wished the visitors would come back so he could find out what they were up to.
The streets were charged with an eerie calm. A summer storm was coming. As Daniel reached Pam's door, he couldn't help but feel a strange foreboding. Something was decidedly wrong. He rang the bell.
"Come in," called Pammy. Dan opened the door and found friend sitting on the floor in a tidy circle. They were all staring at him, an unsettling hunger in their eyes. "We are playing Truth or Dare," Pammy intoned mechanically. "Please, join us. Truth or Dare?"
"Please choose Dare," Gassan said, in the same unearthly voice.
"The Truth is never any fun," agreed David, still in the same tone. Throughout the exchange, none of the four took their eyes off of Daniel.
"Is everything alright?" he asked. "You all seem...different."
Pammy answered in the same monotone as before: "We are collectively unnerved at a series of recurring dreams we have been having. Perhaps you too are experiencing these visions?"
"Yeah," Dan said, "but I'm not acting that weird about it."
"Perhaps," Pammy said, "All will be made more clear if you answer this simple question: Truth...or Dare?"
Written by Zodiac on 31 May 2008
Gaming
When the matter of the flying werewolf first surfaced,you thought it only another stupid hoax or internet story that somehow had found its way in the pages of a regular newspaper.
It was the middle of the summer, a time you hate worse than any other in the year. Yeah, people would be running about, enjoying the sun and the bright sky, but you prefer the cold, damp isolation of your room. Safely seated behind your computer, talking to your friends and working on grinding a few more levels in Shell Shock.
The game was some kind of hidden indie pearl that you and your friends had discovered in the last year. The game showed a near-future demon invasion storyline, in which Earth was being conquered by parasitic demons from the hellish dimensions. These parasites would take over humans and animals hosts, corrupt and twist them for their nefarious purposes, equipped with advanced weaponry and eldritch sorcery they had overwhelmed most of the humanity.
In the game, you play a human recruit in the Heaven Alliance, tasked with using a variety of advanced weapons, deadly spells, and fierce chimeras to fight off the invasion.
The game had little over a million active players all around the world, but even then clawing your way up into the top ten had been no easy feat. What the Shell Shock players lacked in number they compensated in determination and skill.It took you the best part of the year in daily practice before you could even manage to get to the top one hundred. But after that you seem to have found your balance, and in the months that followed, you made a spectacular rise into the top ten.
Written by Ashley-natter on 04 October 2016
Talk
You pull up your friends list. David, Pammy and Jake were already logged in. You quickly switch on your microphone and join on their private voice-chat line.
“You still won’t admit I’m right?” David was shouting as you logged in.
“I told you, your argument proves nothing!” Pammy said. “I still think that episode 7 was much better than anything in the new trilogy! Anakin and Obi Wan spent the whole time twirling and spinning like some kind of ballet dancer! Meanwhile in episode 7 they were having a sword fight!”
“But that’s because they are masters in the force and can predict each other moves!” David retorted.
“I don’t care,” Pammy said gleefully. “It was still really lame and relied too much in impossible acrobatics and set pieces to be an awesome duel. With the new one you can feel each blow and see the fighters struggling to get the upper hand!”
“Sorry to interrupt, guys,” You say. “Are you two still going at it?”
“Daniel!” David called out. “I didn’t see you log in!”
“You’re late, noob,” Pammy said. “And David won’t shut up about Star Wars!”
“I’m right on time,” You say. “We have a few minutes before the mission begins.”
“Yeah, but you are the one that likes to obsess over your loadout and fighting formations…” Pammy said.
“Today we will have to improvise,” You say.
You don’t want to tell them, but you have been felling weird all day. You feel distant, disconnected.
“Hey guys,” Gassan says as he log in. “It’s raining really heavily around here, so maybe I’ll randomly disconnect during the match.”
You clear your throat. “Time is short. Let’s talk mission, guys.”
“If this is another Juggernaut takedown, I’m out,” David said. “I’ll bail and play Battlefield instead.”
“What’s the matter?” You ask. “Don’t you enjoy a challenge?”
“I enjoy a challenge,” David replies. “I’m not a masochist like you.”
Written by Ashley-natter on 11 October 2016