A Creation
It was just another link. Just another video cluttering up my social media stream. But it had a cool title, ‘The scariest..’ Just that, it didn’t say what, just had those three dots. And I’m nosy, so I clicked. The video came onto the screen and I spun my phone sideways to see it better, sleepy eyes and all that. I’m wide awake now.
A gentle hum curled out of the speakers. The first shot was a finger over lips, the symbol for ‘shh’. The lips were a luscious red. At first. Fuzzy edges crept from the side of the screen, crawling over it like leaves in the fall wind and when they reached the lips I realised they’d begun to rot. Flakes of red peeling away. Just as the first hint of white tooth began to show through, the edges took over and the picture filled with static. It shivered and wriggled, slowly, until bit by bit it came into the shape of words, grey on white, and it asked me,
‘Are you ready for the scariest thing you’ve ever known?’
I snorted and snuggled further into my bed. I’d been on the internet, I’d seen the two-minute horror stories. As good as they were, I was sure I could cope with this attempt to scare me. I was a seasoned horror buff, after all.
Turns out, I was not ready at all. I was cocky and stupid and now I’m scared it’s too late.
‘Three years ago, two men created something that has the potential to destroy everything.’
Yeah, whatever, I thought, if this turns out to be a political rant about nuclear power or the arms wars or whatever I was going to write some pretty snarky comments.
‘Isn’t that beautiful?’
Ok, that was a little odd.
‘The two men won’t ever see their creation come into it’s full power.’
The words blurred out, the static rearranged itself again.
‘They died before they could understand the depths and strength of their creation.’
‘They killed themselves before they could truly understand their gift to the world.’
‘And before they took their final breaths, they killed their families.’
I sighed. It seemed overly dramatic.Too much like the click bait headlines or the stories I’d seen on Reddit.
‘Do you remember? It was on the news. It was on every media site you’ve seen. They blamed it on drugs. Two strung out students, snapping. College was too hard, they said, too competitive. They couldn’t cope.’
I did remember something. Something tickling at the back of my head. Maybe, if I’d remembered then, this could have ended differently. Maybe it wouldn’t have been too late. Not then.
Before I could capture the memory, bring it into the light, the static turned blue, the words a sickly shade of pink.
‘They invited their parents to a picnic. They invited their siblings. They drugged them. They drowned them. One by one. Too weak to resist. Watching each other die.’
‘Beautiful, don’t you think? Allowing them to die together.’
‘Would you be that kind?’
We’ll never fucking know, I thought, I’m not fucking psychotic.
‘Would you be able to do that? Could you wipe out those you love the most?’
Of course I fucking couldn’t. It almost lost me, I almost turned it off. Why didn’t I?
Why didn’t I?!
‘You’re thinking you couldn’t. Aren’t you?’
‘Aren’t you?’
‘What if you had no choice?’
‘What if, like those students, the creation got inside you and wiped out everything you thought you were?’
‘You think you could never be a killer. I think you already are. You just don’t know it.’
‘Yet.’
‘I’m going to show you a picture.’
The screen burst into white light. My eyes snapped wide open. A picture of a gutted rabbit flashed in front of me. A squeal rang out of the speakers. I jumped, then laughed at myself, turning down the volume just a little.
I didn’t want to ruin the experience.
‘Did that disgust you?’
I thought they’d have to try harder than that. A jump scare and a photo more tame than those in charity adverts? They’d have to do better than that.
They did. Please help me, they did.
‘No? Perhaps this is more to your taste.’
A new photo appeared. This time a small child lay on the end of a low dock. Their face in the water. Hair floating out like milfoil. Two tiny feet limp behind them, the shoe lost off one foot. Ok, that was worse than the rabbit.
‘She was his family.’
‘Do you think she understood? When he held her down, do you think she understood?’
The words rippled and floated away. A child’s whimper followed them.
‘The students left their legacy.’
‘That wonderful creation.’
The words spun round, spiralling, spiralling, into a point that popped. Blood splattered the screen. It oozed down, words forming in the streaks.
‘It makes people kill.’
‘And it’s spreading.’
‘Isn’t that the most wonderful thing you’ve read today?’
No, I thought, no it’s not. Freaking weirdo.
‘It took thirty people in Indiana. Each one killed by their own family members.’
‘There was the farmer in Albany. Crushed by his tractor. Driven by his son.’
The sound of a motor rose through the melodic hum.
‘The cashier in Cedar Grove. Stabbed by her ten year old.’
A giggle replaced the motor.
‘The twins in Edgewood. Pushed from the cliff edge by their Godmother.’
A wail replaced the giggle.
‘The loving husband, beaten to death with a pipe swung by his adoring wife.’
A whoosh and clang replaced the wails.
In quick succession, four photos flashed across the screen.
Each one a crime scene photo of the victim.
More words flashed up. Each title with another photo. Each photo with another sound. Faster and faster they flew by, my brain barely registering them yet capturing every scream, every cry, every pool of blood, every broken face. I think there were twenty-five of them.
‘Can you see now?’
‘How strong their love was.’
How disgusting, I thought. And began to wonder if I should be watching something that featured real crime scene photos. It felt invasive and cruel.
‘Would you like to know a secret?’
‘If they hadn’t loved them, they wouldn’t have died.’
‘The creation.’
‘You kill those you love.’
‘Poetic, yes?’
‘Is there anyone you love?’
The faces of my family floated, uninvited through my mind.
‘Can you see their faces?’
Two boxes floated onto the screen. One had ‘yes’ above it, one had ‘no’. My eyes flinched toward ‘yes.’
‘Be honest. Which box did you pick?’
‘If you picked yes, then start writing out your apology letter for the police.’
‘You’re going to want one.’
No, I fucking wont, I thought.
I thought.
‘When will you see them next? What will you take as a present?’
Like popping bubbles, images flashed across the screen. Pipes, guns, knives, stones…all the weapons appeared. In a rush, water spilled down from the top, washing the items away, the gun rolled end over end toward me. I flinched back.
‘You’re still thinking that it can’t happen to you. Because you haven’t been exposed to the creation, have you?’
‘So, you’re safe.’
‘You think.’
‘Tell me though,’
The hum rose up, choral voices raised in harmony, a smooth drone running underneath.
‘When you started this video, did you turn off the sound?’
