Want to Play?
No, seriously, do you want to? My friend Barry died of a heart attack seven months ago, and I got to buy some of his old stuff. I didn't see anything I liked until something caught my eye. It was a cardboard box sealed with many layers of duct tape. The words "DO NOT OPEN. PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU!" were written on the top of the box crudely with a permanent marker.
I went into the kitchen to get a knife, wondering what could be in the box. I returned, and opened the box. I looked inside and pulled out an old NES cartridge. I was wondering why Barry would be scared of a Nintendo game. I looked at the cartridge, but there was no label--not even any residue from the label. There was only a Post-it note reading "WANT TO PLAY?" I wanted to put the game back, but my curiosity got the better of me.
I asked Barry's mother how much the game was, but she said she had never seen the game before and I could have it for free. When I returned home, I jammed the game into my NES, excited to see what the game had in store.
I turned on the system, but there was just text saying "You've already lost..." I was about to reset the NES, when a face appeared on the screen. It looked like Barry's, except way more gruesome. The eyes were popped out and blood was pouring out of the sockets, and he had a terrible grin.
The dried blood on his turquoise jacket read: "PRESS START". When I did, I was automatically transported to Level 1, with no title screen, no nothing. The player looked like me, except he had no eyes and his guts were spilling out his side. I couldn't even jump. Whenever I tried, a text box appeared, saying, "It hurts too much..."
The level was just flat ground, and the sky was red. Blood red. There were dead bodies nailed to planks and hung on tree branches. This went on until Level 6. I walked until I saw a body with the face stitched onto it.
When I walked towards it, the face flashed on-screen for a split second, then the NES shut off. It was late, so I went to bed. In my sleep I heard voices having a conversation sort of like this:
Voice 1: "Want To Play?" Voice 2: "No...I'm scared..." Voice 1: But he knows about us. Voice 2: *sobs*
The face appeared and said, "You know me don't you, Zane?"
I woke abruptly, and looked at my clock. It read 7:30 am. As I got ready for school, I couldn't stop thinking about the game. In math class, I was looking at a poster, but all I saw was the face with the words "WANT TO PLAY?" written in blood underneath it.
I shook my head and thought I was just seeing things. When I got home, I put the game back in the NES. I wanted to see if anything had changed since yesterday. When I started the console, the face didn't appear, and I got teleported to a new level called "HELLO ZANE". The screen just turned to static, and the face appeared. It said "I've been waiting for you, Zane".
I yelled "HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!"
The face simply replied "Don't you recognize me, Zane? It's Barry."
I yelled, "BARRY!!!" "You don't know how happy I am to see you!"
"I must go..." Barry muttered.
"Why?" I asked
"Don't ask. You'll be better off that way."
The game turned to static, and the words "That's it! Thank you, Zane." came on the screen, then the NES shut off.
When I went to sleep, my nightmares disappeared. When I woke up, I found writing on the wall.
It read: "Thank you for freeing me, Zane. I will find other people to play with me."
I still have no idea what Barry was talking about in the game, but I feel happier that Barry is still here.
Oh, and by the way, want to play?
Credited to Creepytortellini
| Comments • 0 |
Loading comments...
|
