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"The Derelict"
Okay, I don't have much time, so I have to be quick. My name is Jonathan Langstrom. I'm 23 years old. I live alone in my apartment in New York. And I've made a horrible mistake.
It was the 13. Of course, the most unlucky day in the world. I was on my computer, playing video games. That's when it happened. An add popped up. Usually I dismiss them without another thought.
But this one seemed different.
It didn't have anything on it besides these words:
"est votre vie ennuyeux? alors fin il!"
Then it gave me a file to download named
DERELICT.jakapogiudbykel/umbra:animatronic.2.632518-X.3/\674927619/proto?sagagiiixj())X3
This was instantly odd because it was in a different language. Usually all ads were in English or Spanish. And they definitely didn't give me a file to download.
Now I had read enough Creepypasta and SCP files to recognise a horror story in the making. So I clicked out of it and kept playing.
The next day, I was playing a different game, when the same ad popped up. I groaned and clicked out of that one too.
The day after, I was at working at the office I go to. And the ad popped up. Now my curiosity had been perked. I should've listened to that little voice in the back of my head.
When I got back home, and turned on my computer, it was already up. The ad. I hadn't even opened any programs. It was waiting for me, like it knew that I had made up my mind to open it. This should've been a big flashing "WARNING" sign to me. But I just ignored it.
I downloaded the file and waited. Nothing. I tried opening it multiple times. It still yielded no results. Frustrated, I shut my computer down and went to bed. When I woke up, there was a picture taped to the ceiling. I leapt out of bed and left quickly. I didn't want to see what I expected. Snuff films and dead bodies.
When I got back home, I had bunched up enough courage to check it out. I didn't even want to know how it got there. When I took it down, I was surprised. It wasn't that bad. It was just a picture of an old shipwreck with an iceberg next to it. Nothing too special. Disappointed, I got ready for bed and went to sleep.
When I woke up, there was another picture waiting for me. This time, taped to the refrigerator. It showed a picture of dense, beautiful forest.
The next day was a picture of the ocean that was taped to the toilet seat.
The day after was a picture of the New York skyline that was on my window sill.
The next was of the mountains that was sitting atop my clock.
That's when it stopped. The pictures just ceased to come. This saddened me, as a few had been very pretty.
Eventually, I was curious enough to find out what would happen if I experimented with the file.
First, I tried forcing it open. What happened next, was the first step towards the horror that awaited me. A high pitched scream emanated from my speakers. If that wasn't frightening enough, my vision started tunnelling.
That's when I saw it. It wasn't even human. It looked like a freakish puppet. It was long and thin, with elongated fingers. It's face was a white mask with no mouth or nose, just eyes, which were red. It was completely dark, and frightening. It convulsed and twitched in ways that no one would think possible.
And as soon as it had started, it stopped. And taped to my computer was another picture.
Of me.
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It's been one day. I'm all alone. I think I'm going insane, so while I still can rationally think, I'll try to finish the story.
After that, I didn't want to continue. But I knew I had to. So I did.
The next experiment was to try translating it through a software I had found. It yielded nothing. Until, I got to French.
I tried translating the original message. It came out this:
"Want your life to more interesting? Then start it! Haha, very funny Jonathan. Stop now. Or let's go? Journeys are just graves. We both know you'll never see her. We know that you need it. The Giants tell us you've been marked. How sad. We had a lot of fun! End Proto Mark X.3 start Animatronic Version Alpha Charlie Delta 472805 code named: ___^...*+<___"
I have no idea how it translated to that. But it rattled me. But I couldn't stop. Not when I was so close to finding out what exactly this was.
My final experiment sealed my fate. I tried putting the file name into the web browser. It brought me to a page that was completely dark. But it slowly brightened and showed me the name: ADEPTUS INC.
From there it, it was a search bar. It showed no more words. Tired and angry, I idly tapped a few keys. Then I tried my name. Then I tried tapping in Derelict. Then it started showing results. But not results I wanted.
It brought me back to a page that was completely dark. Then it showed the first, original picture of the old ship.
Then it started zooming in. It got closer and closer to the iceberg that was near the old ship. And then my heart froze. The puppet thing. It was staring right at me. Then the picture faded away and was replaced by the words, "MIGHT WANT TO CHECK THOSE PICTURES AGAIN, JONATHAN..."
I frantically grasped for the picture of the ocean. I looked at and searched for what I was dreading. And there it was. It's haunting face looking at me through the waves.
I found the picture of the mountains next. And there it was. Sitting atop one of the mountains in the distance. Staring at me.
Then I found the forest. And found the Puppet. It was one of the trees, it's legs the trunk. It had more than two arms, about twenty this time. They all made up the branches. And it's head peeking down from the tree tops, upside down.
And finally I found the last one. And I found my grave. I couldn't find him, so I scanned it through to my computer. But when I showed up on my computer, it had changed. It was still New York, but it had different rooftops. And I found it. The last. And the most horrifying.
I found my building. I found my window. In the picture, I had just found this picture. And behind me? There was the Puppet. Staring at me through the computer.
And then my computer went black.
And so did my world.
And so I type this to you in my dark confines. I keep seeing him. Peering at me through the black. And so I finish my story. I know I'll never get out of here. This frightening Limbo.
At least he left me my knife...
