Part I
What was supposed to be the last day of the weekend turned out to be more than that. I never saw it coming. Honestly, I don’t think any of us did. Who am I talking about? You’ll figure it out soon enough.
For now, don’t ask any questions and just listen to me. The things I’m about to recount, even I have a hard time believing them. It feels like a dream – a nightmare if you will – and one that feels too surreal to be true. But I assure you, it is. Every single word you’re about to hear.
I sat on the sofa, scrolling through my ex’s social media page, when a notification popped up on the screen. Julie and I were engaged, and while preparing for our wedding she broke things off over text two weeks ago.
She wouldn’t tell me why. It was driving me up the wall. Julie was the one. We hit off almost immediately the day we met through a mutual friend, and I really believed that she felt the same way about me.
When I contacted who was supposed to be Julie’s bridesmaid, however, I finally found out the truth. Julie wasn’t in love with me – she never had been. That mutual friend I talked about? She was in love with him, not me. Like a piece of paper, she used me to get closer to him.
Want to hear something funnier? Those two got together the day Julie broke up with me. But I don’t believe that shit. I’ve been scrolling through her social media page for hours now and the bigger pictures only get clearer. How could I be such a fool?
Julie and that guy worked in the same department. Whenever she told me she was working late at night to finish a report, that guy was working too. Even their social media pages looked identical, as if they had planned it all out beforehand.
“Hi, this is JackTheReeper folks! I’m live at 1:20 am! Y’all been waiting for this moment, amirite? Hit that notification button and let’s goooo!”
JackTheReeper was my favourite YouTuber. He played all sorts of games, but I subscribed to his channel solely for the horror content. Although he was easily scared and preferred RPG games, he’d still take on some horror games now and then.
Since we were nearing Halloween week, he posted all over his wall that he’d be doing a surprise livestream a few days before October 31st. People kept suggesting the same horror games, such as Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Outlast, Ju-On, and Evil Within like way too many times.
At some point, however, a viewer called username103-ww345 suggested an indie horror game none of us ever heard of. I looked up this guy’s profile, but it didn’t look like he was actually a subscriber.
He had no videos or comments – no nothing. It seemed as if whoever created this throwaway account did it just hours after JackTheReeper announced his surprise Halloween livestream. We figured he was the creator of the indie horror game he wanted us to try in an attempt to promote it.
You’ll find a snippet of how this conversation went down below. For privacy reasons, I won’t attach the actual names of the other subscribers. These comments, along with the entire channel, have already been deleted and cannot be found on the Internet anymore.
[My Username]: Hell yeah! How long since it been, dude? I thought you’d quit playing horror games!
[JackTheReeper]: Halloween special for my loyal fans only! You guys been telling me to play horror games like forever, lol
[Viewer 2]: Whatcha playing, Reeper?
[JackTheReeper]: Dunno, maybe Outlast? Did I ever finish the first one? Hey [My Username], what do you want?
[My Username]: You kidding me, dude!? LOL Try something new! I heard there’s some good stuff on Steam from [viewer 4]
[Viewer 4]: Did someone summon me, lol
[JackTheReeper]: [My Username] did
[My Username]: lol
[Viewer 4]: You doing live stream for Halloween, Reeper?
[JackTheReeper]: Not the day of, but yeah. You joining us, right?
[JackTheReeper]: Suggest me some horror games!
[My Username]: [viewer 4] knows some good stuff on Steam
[Viewer 4]: What am I, God of Steam?
[Viewer 2]: More like God of Stream, if you know what I mean *wink*
[JackTheReeper]: [viewer 4] you doing OF, dude LOL
[My Username]: [viewer 4] logged out.
[Viewer 2]: P*ssy
[JackTheReeper]: you guys trying to demonetize me or what? C’mon, suggest me some horror games! I’m open to whatever!
[Viewer 2]: So, there’s this dating simulator…
[My Username]: Where’s [viewer 3]? Seems like he deleted his channel
[JackTheReeper]: dead
[Viewer 2]: *sweet dead child o’mine*
[My Username]: Like, I’m serious guys! His channel is like deleted or some shit
[JackTheReeper]: Heard he dead
[Viewer 2]: as he should be. F*cking ass*hole he nuked my [redacted]
[My Username]: Heard that too, but like, is it true?
[Viewer 2]: dunno
[Viewer 2]: i heard he played a cursed horror game
[My Username]: WTF, cursed? Lol
[JackTheReeper]: Okay, guys, shut the fuck up and lets get down to business, alright?
[Viewer 2]: only if [My Username] shuts the fuck up first lol
[My Username]: play ‘who kills [viewer 2] first wins’
[Viewer 5]: Damn! late to the fun, again!
[My Username]: Reeper just got offline
[Viewer 5]: lol
[Viewer 2]: he’s avoiding [viewer 5]
[Viewer 5]: lol haha
[My Username]: he’s back
[JackTheReeper]: sorry guys! Wifey things lol *wink* Anyways… any suggestions [viewer 5]?
[username103-ww345]: 010101-010101 limited edition itch.io
[Viewer 2]: what the fuck is 010101-010101? Lol
[Viewer 5]: your mum
[JackTheReeper]: okay, I’ll check it out
[My Username]: no self-promo allowed [username103-ww345]
[Viewer 2]: says who?
[My Username]: fuck off asshole
[Viewer 2]: I’m genuinely asking asshole-you-too
[JackTheReeper]: okay looks good. Are you the creator [username103-ww345]
[Viewer 5]: hes not a subscriber
[My Username]: guys logged out
[Viewer 2]: Anywho, game looks lit! LIT
[Viewer 5]: looks like the game [viewer 3] played. the aesthetics I mean
[Viewer 2]: oh no it’s cursed! [My Username]’s gonna piss himself
[My Username]: *herself, asshole
[Viewer 2]: wait you a girl? why didn’t say sooner, sweety? Wanna hang out tomorrow? I’ve got a new bed
[My Username]: learn grammar first
[JackTheReeper]: Imma log out now guys! Keep it civil! Happy FUCKING Halloween!
Part II
The following conversation happened during the livestream itself. When I clicked the notification button and the stream flickered on, the first thing I saw was a drained JackTheReeper.
He’d been talking about having some marital issues with his wife Rebecca for a few months now. I even gave him some pieces of advice about women to help him resolve whatever was going on with him and his spouse, but it seemed like things weren’t getting any better.
I brewed myself a mug of black coffee while waiting for the actual live stream to start and made up my mind to focus on the present and shut off all other thoughts about Julie. It was easier said than done.
JackTheReeper started the stream by introducing the game, briefing us on the theme, concept and main character, before actually playing the thing. I must admit that something about the vibe the game gave off arrested me in more than one way.
The plot was crazy good, like it was so plausible. I like that sort of stuff. The more realistic it is, the scarier it is. Like a ghost haunting me is unlikely to happen, but getting chased by some fucked-up serial killer? Yeah, the chances of that happening were like way higher than the former alternative.
Here's a brief description of how JackTheReeper introduced the game. The home screen showed a wooded area shrouded in moving shadows and towering corn fields. Some eerie music played in the background but it was hardly noticeable. Through the corn fields, a narrow trail could be traced to god-knows-where.
My first thought was that this game was about some scarecrow coming alive and chasing the main character. But as JackTheReeper began his introduction, I soon figured this wasn’t the case. Moreover, we learnt that this was indeed the game [viewer 3] played before disappearing from the face of the earth.
[JackTheReeper]: Whatssup guys! This is your guy Reeper at it again! Since you guys like to see me piss my pants, I’m back with another indie horror game!
[Viewer 4]: first
[My Username]: you playing that game? 010101- something?
[JackTheReeper]: Yeah wish me good luck!
[My Username]: Everything’s okay? You look down, man
[JackTheReeper]: I’ll text you after the stream
[Viewer 2]: [My Username] is ma girl, dude. Back off
[My Username]: Who called this fucker
[Viewer 2]: Your love lol
[Viewer 4]: What’s up with the flirting lol
[Viewer 2]: [My Username] likes me
[JackTheReeper]: Okay, listen up folks!
[My Username]: Is this the game [viewer 3] played
[JackTheReeper]: Jaap
[Viewer 2]: [My Username] you can hold my hand if your scared Imma protect you
[Viewer 4]: lol
[JackTheReeper]: so, here’s whats up: this game was created back in 2009. We don’t know who created it but it’s actually quite well known on Reddit. apparently it’s haunted
[My Username]: never heard of it before lol
[Viewer 2]: hello sweety whats your handle? Let’s talk
[Viewer 4]: it’s famous on Creepypasta.org too. [Another famous Youtuber]actually talked about it on his channel two years ago
[My Username]: Ah, the one who makes creepy videos?
[Viewer 4]: yeah
[JackTheReeper]: Anyways… so, we’re like searching for our sister who got lost on her way to some asylum
[My Username]: what’s the year?
[JackTheReeper]: 18…89? Yeah, something like that
[Viewer 4]: Doesn’t sound scary, though
[JackTheReeper]: We’re William and our grandmother sends us a letter saying our sister has gone missing. We know that shes supposed to arrive at this asylum in the countryside, but it never arrives. Police finds the bus two miles from the asylum near some woodland, where they find some footprints going deeper into the woods.
[Viewer 2]: and then they meet Big Foot lol and die
[My Username]: So, like we’re on this trail looking for our sister or…?
[JackTheReeper]: No, from what I’ve read the game starts inside the asylum
[Viewer 4]: now that’s creepy
[JackTheReeper]: but the asylum is abandoned. like, even if the bus arrived, all those patients had nowhere to go.
[Viewer 2]: But who alerts the police then
[JackTheReeper]: I dunno. Maybe a relative?
[My Username]: Okay, so we’re just going to search this asylum and find clues? Doesn’t sound half as bad as I thought.
[Viewer 4]: maybe its haunted
[Viewer 2]: someones got no balls lol ^^
[JackTheReeper]: Okay, so are you guys ready or what? Cause I’m not
[My Username]: let’s goo
[Viewer 2]: to my place or…?
[Viewer 4]: lol chill dude
[JackTheReeper]: Alright, here we go!
Part III
The harrowing backdrop of a walled asylum enclosed by barbed wire appeared on the screen, along with a shot of JackTheReeper in the far-right corner.
Chilling sounds of grasshoppers doing their thing in the dead of night, hooting owls and whatnot were enough to send a chill down everyone’s spine.
I drew the curtains and sank into the soft fabric of the sofa with a cup of black coffee.
Through the thin walls, the moans of my fornicating neighbours filled my bedroom, so I put on a pair of headphones Julie gifted me on my 30th birthday.
When JackTheReeper finally unlocked the steel gates after looking for the clover-shaped key for more than half an hour, the echoing footsteps against the gravelled driveway blared so loud that I lowered the volume.
It was during this time that I thought I heard something come through from the kitchen. As I briefly put away the headphones, I perked up my ears to catch any sound out of the ordinary.
Julie had a spare key. I copied my keys after she moved in with me because it was getting tiring to keep descending the stairs from the fifth floor to open the door for her.
It wasn’t until I readjusted the headphones and turned the volume up that I found out where the noise came from.
[JackTheReeper]: Did you guys catch that!?
[Viewer 4]: WTF was that dude
[Viewer 4]: think someones in there with you
[Viewer 2]: The door just unlocked on its own lol
[JackTheReeper]: sounded like a whimpering cat or something
[Viewer 2]: cat? It was the door lol. How did you hear a cat?? [My Username] did you hear a cat or door?
[Viewer 2]: hello? [My Username]?? Where’d you go, lol
[Viewer 4]: Hey, try to open that door. The green one
[JackTheReeper]: only brown doors lol
[Viewer 4]: Are we seeing the same things? LOL
[Viewer 4]: Wait, you serious dude? You don’t see the green door?
[Viewer 2]: I only see brown doors too, lol. He’s fucking with you Reeper
[JackTheReeper]: K, Imma head in
[JackTheReeper]: where’s [My Username]?
[Viewer 2]: In my heart lol
[JackTheReeper]: [My Username]???
[JackTheReeper]: Omg did you hear that guys? The cat!
[Viewer 4]: isn’t it like a creaking door?
[Viewer 2]: you call that a creaking door? Screaming door lol
JackTheReeper entered the cracked door.
After pointing the flashlight all over the place, he settled on a redwood desk. There was a sealed envelope on it. The letter was addressed to William, the main character, and was handwritten by a nurse called ‘Madeleine’.
[JackTheReeper]: whats this?
[My Username]: can’t see the letter, what does it say
[Viewer 2]: hi, pretty. Did you miss me?
[JackTheReeper]: it says something happened to the patients, but…
[Viewer 4]: Ayo spill the beans, dude!
[JackTheReeper]: weird
[Viewer 4]: ?
[JackTheReeper]: do any of you know someone called Julie?
Coincidence. That was my first thought. But as the conversation continued and JackTheReeper carried on, I knew something was off.
[My Username]: what does the letter say?
[JackTheReeper]: I don’t know, man… like, wtf? Hey, who said this game was cursed?
[Viewer 4]: [Viewer 2] did
[JackTheReeper]: he’s not here
[My Username]: He logged out I think
[Viewer 4]: Hold on a sec, are you guys being real? Lol Hes in chat lol
[My Username]: no, he’s not
[Viewer 4]: He is. Hes literaly writing as we speak
[JackTheReeper]: cant see. what does he say?
[Viewer 4]: he’s not done.
[My Username]: Like, we’re only 3 online are you sure [viewer 4]?
[JackTheReeper]: where’d he go?
[My Username]: we’re only 2 now. What did letter say, btw
[JackTheReeper]: you don’t wanna hear
[My Username]: C’mon dude
[Viewer 2]: omg sorry ‘bout that, lol! The wifi just went poof
Even though I asked JackTheReeper to clarify the content of the letter repeatedly throughout the game, he wouldn’t.
It was first when we got enough clues and could head to the overturned bus that he opened up a little.
The towering cornfields span several miles on either side in the distance ahead. As the makeshift trail through the field got narrower and the shadows deeper, we found ourselves in the middle of fucking nowhere.
JackTheReeper saw what look like a scarecrow surrounded by cawing ravens and came to a sudden stop.
[JackTheReeper]: what…?
[Viewer 2]: why’d you stop, bro
[JackTheReeper]: I can hear them, like, literally IN MY FUCKING ROOM
[Viewer 2]: chill dude. Whatcha hearing LOFL
[My Username]: you okay Reeper? You don’t move.
[JackTheReeper]: can someone tell me who the fuck Julie is?? feels like I’mma go insane!
[My Username]: are those birds?
[Viewer 2]: ravens or some shit lol
[JackTheReeper]: hello who’s Julie??
[JackTheReeper]: like for real I’m serious guys! Who’s Julie
[My Username]: hey, it’s coming!
[Viewer 2]: What the hell is that thing!? Looks so real!
[JackTheReeper]: [My Username]
[My Username]: dude run! It’s literally in front of you!
[JackTheReeper]: [My Username]
[My Username]: ?? gotta run, dude!
[Viewer 2]: he’s gonna die lol not moving
[JackTheReeper]: [My Username]
[My Username]: you good Reeper
[JackTheReeper]: [My Username] is your name Madeleine?
[My Username]: ...
[JackTheReeper]: Madeleine where’s Julie?
I shut down the computer.
For the record, yes, my name was Madeleine. My parents met in history class and hit it off because of their mutual passion for all things Victorian. My name reflected their silly attempt to return to the 1800s.
I say ‘was’ because that’s no longer my name. After twenty decades of being made fun of, I legally changed my name and moved on with my life. Not even Julie knew my birth name.
Being an agnostic for over ten years and an atheist for five years, the last thing I wanted to believe in was some made-up fairytale about curses and whatnot. But how could I explain something like this just by reasoning?
JackTheReeper wasn’t exactly an Internet sensation at the time all of this happened, and his subscribers were just a little over 4,000. Even so, only a few of us actually watched his gaming stuff.
The rest subscribed to his horror story narration videos, which is what got him all the fame and money in the world a few years before this livestream.
I unsubscribed when his YouTube career skyrocketed. He stopped playing games altogether and focused on his narration videos instead. [Viewer 4] once asked during one of his last gaming live streams why he wasn’t playing horror games anymore.
He blocked him instead of replying and turned off all comments in his other videos before deleting them all and starting anew under a different channel name.
Now that I think about it, I never saw what happened after I shut off the computer. Figuring [viewer 2] would be open to having a chat with me, I sent him a direct message, which he hasn’t read to this day.
Fast-forward three years and I hear that the remains of [viewer 2] have been found near a sewer twelve miles from his home. It was all over the news.
His death was ruled as an unfortunate accident after a night out, although there was no trace of alcohol in his blood. The police found some empty bottles in the wrecked car and the forensics guys concluded that the body had been so decomposed that all traces of alcohol poisoning were no longer detectable.
But how am was so sure the guy they found is [viewer 2]? The police couldn’t identify him so they did a composite sketch of what he probably looked like before, well, he became liquefied. Although not exactly a carbon copy, the composite sketch looked almost identical to the profile picture still uploaded on [viewer 2]’s account on YouTube.
I spent a good hour and a half studying the picture and comparing it to the composite sketch. It had to be him! The police even got the slightly uneven and awkward neck tilt right and the crooked teeth.
After sending messages to JackTheReeper over the course of several weeks after they found [viewer 2], he finally replied to me. The first thing he asked was whether everything was okay with me.
Here’s how our conversation went:
[Reeper]: You sure it’s him?
[My Username]: I’d be surprised if it wasn’t. How you been?
[Reeper]: Fine I guess
[Reeper]: hey, theres actually something I always wanted to ask you
[My Username]: which is…?
[Reeper]: Why did you do that?
[My Username]: do what exactly?
[My Username]: hey, Reeper, you there?
[Reeper]: Nevermind.
[My Username]: No, tell me what’s on your mind
[Reeper]: you lied, remember?
[My Username]: ?? no ?
[Reeper]: When we played that game, you told me to run
[My Username]: so? I didn’t lie
[Reeper]: then why did you log out?
[My Username]: Because you kept saying stupid things!
[Reeper]: What stupid things? The two of us never chatted! You were the one who kept saying nonsense!
[My Username]: are yo u being real
[My Username]: dude, you literally kept telling stuff about my private life!
[My Username]: Reeper, hello??
[Reeper]: No?
[My Username]: Madeleine, Julie…? Those names weren’t about me?
[Reeper]: Your name’s Madeleine? Like, how the fuck am I supposed to know that!
[My Username]: then who were you talking bout?
[Reeper]: You said those things! You kept droning on about some envelope on the study room
[My Username]: yeah, the one you found?
[Reeper]: WTF you talking about
[My Username]: that’s weird, all this
[My Username]: it’s like everything I thought you did, you tell me I did
[Reeper]: was there even a letter to begin with?
[My Username]: you think it was really cursed, that game?
[Reeper]: if [viewer 2]’s dead then… maybe
[My Username]: you talked with [viewer 4] recently?
[Reeper]: haven’t heard from him since that live stream
[Reeper]: he said he was gonna send you a dm and ask if you’re okay
[My Username]: Wait, you never blocked him??
[My Username]: hurry answer!
[Reeper]: Nope
[My Username]: But I saw him comment on your last live stream before you deleted your videos
[Reeper]: lol that wasn’t him. Imposter
[My Username]: Im… poster???
[Reeper]: yeah, some dude contacted me on Discord and, well, long story short, he wasn’t [viewer 4]. Now that I think about it, his name on Discord look kinda familiar
[My Username]: What do you mean
[Reeper]: hold on, I’ll go check it
That’s where my conversation with JackTheReeper ends. He never got back to me. Like the others, he disappeared from the face of the earth.
I have a theory.
Those who figure out who the creator of the cursed game is end up either getting killed or going missing. This is what keeps me from going down the same rabbit hole and exploring whatever the fuck is going on with this game and the mysterious account who suggested it.
If I one day find myself in a similar situation or figure out the real deal with the cursed game by accident, I might post an update. But for now, I’ll end things here and carry on with my life.
Sometimes, being in the dark is better than knowing the truth. I think this is the case here as well. Someone created that game for a purpose and I may never know what it was, but if you’re reading this and are in a similar situation, here’s a piece of advice: don’t let curiosity get the better of you.
