Page 20 of Forbidden Game

Aleks and Jackson have rooms in the same hallway, while mine are in the one off the kitchen.

Naturally, mine are the biggest.

The door flings open with force, and I step into the green LED-lit room. Sure enough, Jackson is gaming on his PC while Aleks looms in a chair next to him. My two best friends pause their yelling to look at me for a second and nod before going back to the game in front of them.

“Are you wankers really going to ignore me?” I huff.

“You still have your headphones on, wanker,” Aleks mocks back in a shitty British accent while pawing at a bag of crisps.

I quickly shove the headset off my head and leave them to rest around my neck before walking farther into the room and snatching the bag from him.

I barely manage to shove a handful of the honey-barbeque crisps into my mouth before Aleks grabs them back from me, almost knocking my energy drink out of my hand in the process.

I give his chair a kick, sending it rolling backward, and quickly grab one of the nearby puffy, round seats to claim my spot to Jackson’s right. Aleks flicks me his middle finger, and I return the gesture twofold.

“What’re you guys playing, anyway?” My eyes scan the screen as I lean forward.

It’s a first-person game, that much I can tell. Jackson’s character is using a flashlight to search what looks like a very illegal, backwater surgery room. I don’t recognize it as anything we’ve played before, but Jackson tends to play a lot of games from indie developers.

When the music starts to turn creepy, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Jackson also tends to play a lot of horror games.

“What game is it?” I ask again while draining the rest of my energy drink, but the fizziness only upsets the growing unease as the assholes remain quiet. “Fuck this.”

I go to push up, but I’m not quick enough. Some fucked-up looking zombie creature flashes onto the screen with a screeching sound, and I just about piss myself. My attempt at leaving turns into me tripping backward over the round seat, and I end up sprawled on the ground with a grunt.

Aleks and Jackson let out a holler of laughter.

I fucking loathe jump-scare horror games and they know it.

“I hate you both.” I crush the can that is still gripped in my hand and fling it at Jackson.

He bats it away with ease before extending his hand out to me. “Come on, princess.”

“You are aware you died,” I point out with a grumble, knocking his hand away and standing up myself.

“Worth it.” He shrugs, spinning back to the screen and restarting the game. “It’s a new game, by the way. They’re still in beta but asked if I would test it out and give them some feedback. It’s pretty good. I haven’t had any glitches or major bugs so far, and the creatures look super realistic.”

The brief image of the zombie creature flashes in my mind, and I suppress a shiver.

“There’s something wrong with you people,” I grumble.

I’ll never understand why people willingly scare themselves. Seriously. Why?

“How’d your run go?” Aleks asks through a mouthful of crisps.

“Shaved off thirty seconds total.”

“Ay, nice.” He holds his hand out, and I slap it before fist-bumping him.

“Yeah, I was going to celebrate and get us a table at High Wire, but I’m not feeling so hospitable anymore.”

“I’m pretty sure Syd would drag you out of the club before you even popped a bottle.”

At least it would give me an excuse to see her.

“I could always turn my location off,” I supply.

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