Making some popcorn, I turn on the TV.
The tape starts playing.
It's a bit creepy, and boring, but I get to the point where I wanted to get.
My phone rings.
"you will..." it starts, and I hang up.
Stretching, I go to Netflix on my TV, and start watching something.
The tape I watched is the one that kills you in 7 days, if you don't show it to someone else, but I just re-watch it again, and again, resetting the timer.
It's dumb, right?
The "rules" say I have to show it to someone "ELSE", alas...
I watched it daily, trying to find something in it that can be helpful...and I noticed that on the 7th day, nothing happened.
It's been a year since I first watched it.
And I am fine and dandy.
The tape on the other hand?
It's getting worn down.
A week passes by quickly once more, and I start watching the tape...
And it's blank.
Those grey dots, that static noise is all that plays.
I watch it for a while, waiting for the call...but nothing happens.
I take out the tape, and notice a weird smell.
"Did I...burn it?" I mutter, checking it in light.
Yep.
It shows signs of being burnt.
Oh well...it happens.
Going on with my life, a week passes again...and then again, and again.
Seeing that nothing happens, I start feeling weird.
Don't ask me why...I don't have a deathwish, but still it gives me a strange feeling.
I know, I have been called every single time I finished the tape, with that message of "You will die in...".
So I know it should be true...the curse of the tape that is.
And I never felt bad about having to watch the tape again and again, to reset the timer.
But now...
I am starting to feel regret.
If the tape was just a random one, and the calls were a prank from someone...
Did I waste precious minutes of my life for an entire year...for nothing?
Ugh...
I never would have imagined, I would one day wish that a goddamn killing curse is real.
The VCR player made a deathly whir and booted to life with a grotesque clicking. Tentatively, I kicked it. I had no idea where else I would find another one of these if it broke. Thankfully, the sound went away and the TV eventually flicked on — though reluctantly. The television was old too. It was the only one I had that accepted RCA cables, and I only used it to watch the tape.
As usual, the first minute showed nothing but an old well. Then, a horrifying figure with knee-length black hair crawled out. She was barefoot and wore an oversized, patched white dress. Her face was hidden by her disheveled hair. Her arms were snapped in at least three different places, but that didn't stop her from skittering or bending her elbows backwards.
I quickly pulled out my phone and let the video sit in the corner of my vision, not really paying attention — no reason to torture myself. I had found out by accident that I didn't really need to watch the video a while back when I had zoned out and absentmindedly made myself a PBJ sandwich — I just needed to see most of it. The spirit inside the VCR tape was pretty liberal with her interpretation of 'watch' — I assume to hit as wide of an audience as possible.
Tape days were usually every Monday and Thursday — twice a week meant I had a little flex in case I couldn't make a day or two... or three. Cut me some slack, yeah? Holidays are always busy. It was already Sunday, and I had six hours to watch a ten minute long video — plenty of time. I wasn't sure how many times I'd watched it by now, I had stopped keeping track after a couple months. It must've been at least a hundred though — even the spirit seemed to have had enough.
At first, she enacted the entire procedure properly, complete with screams, convulsions, and bleeding — there was so much bleeding — but I think she stopped screaming not long after I muted the TV. Now, she barely went through the motions. I swear I caught her sighing more than once.
"Yes!" I took a screenshot — new high score.
The lights flicked off suddenly and I was plunged into pitch black darkness. 'Shit, power outage.'
Only half the video had played, and didn't know if that was enough to count. Power outages weren't uncommon during summer, but it hadn't coincided with a tape day before. I waited in the dark, power usually came back pretty quickly.
As expected, the lights flicked back on within a couple minutes — but the TV did not, 'Fuck.'
I got up and banged the side. Something inside cracked, then snapped, 'Shit shit shit.'
I checked the time: five hours till sunrise.
'That's fine. Plenty of time,' I told myself. Unfortunately, it was already way past opening hours for any electronics store.
I racked my head, 'Do I know anyone with a compatible TV? My parents, maybe? Would I be able to explain what an RCA cable is over the phone? Should I just head out and start the three hour drive to their place right now? One of my neighbors is an old lady — should I break into her home and check her TVs?'
I bit my lip and paced for several minutes unable to decide — then remembered that the VCR player was a combo device that could also burn DVDs. Would that still count? Probably, right? I rewound the tape, inserted some old rewritable DVD I had laying around, and crossed my fingers.
After thirty minutes of scouring obscure VCR enthusiast internet forums and blind button pressing, I had a slightly more modern haunted video. I popped the disc into the CD tray of my PC — and was greeted by a crying ghost.
She had her back turned to me and therefore didn't immediately notice we were back in business.
"Uh... Hello," I said. I felt kind of bad. She might be a deadly vengeful spirit, but she was still a crying woman.
She turned around and stumbled in shock, then wiped her tears, "Ahhh—khkh.."
"Uh... sure. You can, uh, continue doing the... you know."
She shook her head.
"Err... Does that mean I'm off the hook and you're not going to kill me?"
She shook her head again, more fervently this time.
"Look lady, I'm sorry I made you cry, but I don't know what you want unless you tell me."
She got on all fours and crawled closer to the camera like a centipede. God, that was terrifying to watch. She opened her mouth, "Ahh...kkkrr"
It came out as a throaty scratching noise, harsh and piercing yet somehow barely audible at the same time. She stomped her foot on the ground in frustration.
"Oh. I bet you've been screaming all this time, haven't you?"
She looked away and scratched her cheek, which might've been cute — if her arm wasn't bent the wrong way.
"Here, how about this: Tomorrow's Monday. I'll put you back on tomorrow night, give you some time to try and get your voice back — and you don't kill me."
She turned to the camera, opened her mouth and paused, then nodded. The motion unfortunately snapped her neck.
When she finally succeeded in realigning her skull, I gave her a thumbs up — which she just stared at in confusion. Good enough.
The video closed itself when she crawled back into her well. I just stared at my desktop background for the rest of the night and didn't even bother trying to sleep, 'Well, this certainly got more interesting.'
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Making some popcorn, I turn on the TV.
The tape starts playing.
It's a bit creepy, and boring, but I get to the point where I wanted to get.
My phone rings.
"you will..." it starts, and I hang up.
Stretching, I go to Netflix on my TV, and start watching something.
The tape I watched is the one that kills you in 7 days, if you don't show it to someone else, but I just re-watch it again, and again, resetting the timer.
It's dumb, right?
The "rules" say I have to show it to someone "ELSE", alas...
I watched it daily, trying to find something in it that can be helpful...and I noticed that on the 7th day, nothing happened.
It's been a year since I first watched it.
And I am fine and dandy.
The tape on the other hand?
It's getting worn down.
A week passes by quickly once more, and I start watching the tape...
And it's blank.
Those grey dots, that static noise is all that plays.
I watch it for a while, waiting for the call...but nothing happens.
I take out the tape, and notice a weird smell.
"Did I...burn it?" I mutter, checking it in light.
Yep.
It shows signs of being burnt.
Oh well...it happens.
Going on with my life, a week passes again...and then again, and again.
Seeing that nothing happens, I start feeling weird.
Don't ask me why...I don't have a deathwish, but still it gives me a strange feeling.
I know, I have been called every single time I finished the tape, with that message of "You will die in...".
So I know it should be true...the curse of the tape that is.
And I never felt bad about having to watch the tape again and again, to reset the timer.
But now...
I am starting to feel regret.
If the tape was just a random one, and the calls were a prank from someone...
Did I waste precious minutes of my life for an entire year...for nothing?
Ugh...
I never would have imagined, I would one day wish that a goddamn killing curse is real.
Backwards Compatible
The VCR player made a deathly whir and booted to life with a grotesque clicking. Tentatively, I kicked it. I had no idea where else I would find another one of these if it broke. Thankfully, the sound went away and the TV eventually flicked on — though reluctantly. The television was old too. It was the only one I had that accepted RCA cables, and I only used it to watch the tape.
As usual, the first minute showed nothing but an old well. Then, a horrifying figure with knee-length black hair crawled out. She was barefoot and wore an oversized, patched white dress. Her face was hidden by her disheveled hair. Her arms were snapped in at least three different places, but that didn't stop her from skittering or bending her elbows backwards.
I quickly pulled out my phone and let the video sit in the corner of my vision, not really paying attention — no reason to torture myself. I had found out by accident that I didn't really need to watch the video a while back when I had zoned out and absentmindedly made myself a PBJ sandwich — I just needed to see most of it. The spirit inside the VCR tape was pretty liberal with her interpretation of 'watch' — I assume to hit as wide of an audience as possible.
Tape days were usually every Monday and Thursday — twice a week meant I had a little flex in case I couldn't make a day or two... or three. Cut me some slack, yeah? Holidays are always busy. It was already Sunday, and I had six hours to watch a ten minute long video — plenty of time. I wasn't sure how many times I'd watched it by now, I had stopped keeping track after a couple months. It must've been at least a hundred though — even the spirit seemed to have had enough.
At first, she enacted the entire procedure properly, complete with screams, convulsions, and bleeding — there was so much bleeding — but I think she stopped screaming not long after I muted the TV. Now, she barely went through the motions. I swear I caught her sighing more than once.
"Yes!" I took a screenshot — new high score.
The lights flicked off suddenly and I was plunged into pitch black darkness. 'Shit, power outage.'
Only half the video had played, and didn't know if that was enough to count. Power outages weren't uncommon during summer, but it hadn't coincided with a tape day before. I waited in the dark, power usually came back pretty quickly.
As expected, the lights flicked back on within a couple minutes — but the TV did not, 'Fuck.'
I got up and banged the side. Something inside cracked, then snapped, 'Shit shit shit.'
I checked the time: five hours till sunrise.
'That's fine. Plenty of time,' I told myself. Unfortunately, it was already way past opening hours for any electronics store.
I racked my head, 'Do I know anyone with a compatible TV? My parents, maybe? Would I be able to explain what an RCA cable is over the phone? Should I just head out and start the three hour drive to their place right now? One of my neighbors is an old lady — should I break into her home and check her TVs?'
I bit my lip and paced for several minutes unable to decide — then remembered that the VCR player was a combo device that could also burn DVDs. Would that still count? Probably, right? I rewound the tape, inserted some old rewritable DVD I had laying around, and crossed my fingers.
After thirty minutes of scouring obscure VCR enthusiast internet forums and blind button pressing, I had a slightly more modern haunted video. I popped the disc into the CD tray of my PC — and was greeted by a crying ghost.
She had her back turned to me and therefore didn't immediately notice we were back in business.
"Uh... Hello," I said. I felt kind of bad. She might be a deadly vengeful spirit, but she was still a crying woman.
She turned around and stumbled in shock, then wiped her tears, "Ahhh—khkh.."
"Uh... sure. You can, uh, continue doing the... you know."
She shook her head.
"Err... Does that mean I'm off the hook and you're not going to kill me?"
She shook her head again, more fervently this time.
"Look lady, I'm sorry I made you cry, but I don't know what you want unless you tell me."
She got on all fours and crawled closer to the camera like a centipede. God, that was terrifying to watch. She opened her mouth, "Ahh...kkkrr"
It came out as a throaty scratching noise, harsh and piercing yet somehow barely audible at the same time. She stomped her foot on the ground in frustration.
"Oh. I bet you've been screaming all this time, haven't you?"
She looked away and scratched her cheek, which might've been cute — if her arm wasn't bent the wrong way.
"Here, how about this: Tomorrow's Monday. I'll put you back on tomorrow night, give you some time to try and get your voice back — and you don't kill me."
She turned to the camera, opened her mouth and paused, then nodded. The motion unfortunately snapped her neck.
When she finally succeeded in realigning her skull, I gave her a thumbs up — which she just stared at in confusion. Good enough.
The video closed itself when she crawled back into her well. I just stared at my desktop background for the rest of the night and didn't even bother trying to sleep, 'Well, this certainly got more interesting.'
A/N: ghost waifu incoming?!
/r/Unexpected_Works