الخميس، 4 أغسطس 2016
You may think that a game can't be a threat to you in real life. I believed that to be true at one point in my life.
I've been playing games since I was a kid. Sonic on the Sega, Mario on the NES, and yes most importantly Pokemon. I have played all of the Pokemon games except the most recent versions on the 3DS, this changed with the release of Pokemon GO.
Pokemon GO is a game that encourages its participants to venture out into the "real world" to capture Pokemon, find PokeStops, and conquer Gyms. I thought this would be great because I spend plenty of time inside between work and gaming at night. This would be a chance to go out and explore the city that I have only been in for a few months.
This idea in itself presents some dangers in a city. One could find themselves in the wrong side of a neighborhood and subsequently be involved with some form of gang violence, one could not pay attention and wander into a busy street while trying to catch something, or if your me you could get yourself involved in something much, much more sinister.
Upon my initial installation of Pokemon GO I found the game to be enthralling. I couldn't put it down from the get go. As soon as it was available I took a long lunch break from work to walk around the local area to collect from PokeStops and visit the nearby Gyms. I made it back from my hour lunch break just on time after picking up a sandwich from the local shop. The days following held a similar pattern with my lunch break becoming totally devoted to “Catching em’ all.” Even after work I would stop at home and head out on my bike to find more Gyms, Go Red Team!
The time when the game got truly interesting was after dark. Now where I live isn’t anywhere near the “bad” side of town, but it was still risky to go out on bike at night time. I rode around catching many a Pokemon near and far alike. I was beginning to wonder how far I had gone. This is when I came upon the mother-load of PokeStops. As far as the Augmented Reality Map could see there were PokeStops. “Gold mine” I thought as I looked up from my phone.
A Cemetery. “This could be interesting,” I thought. I don’t have any inherent fear of cemeteries. I do believe in the supernatural, but I also believe in the mutual respect of our world and theirs. I locked my bike up by the entrance. I pulled out my flashlight and readied my phone, as I passed through the rows of gravestones collecting my loot and the occasional ghost type Pokemon I notice an eerie chill passing through me. It only seemed like a gust of wind from a nearby storm.
When I looked up I noticed that I had entered the section of the cemetery where there was a collection of mausoleums. There were a few smaller sized, two medium sized, and one very prominent large mausoleum. This person clearly wanted to be the center of attention even long after they had died. As I entered this area my phone started having a fit, notifications left, right, behind, and right in front of me of ghost type Pokemon, the most Pokemon I had seen in one area at a time. Only fitting for a cemetery.
Third evolution Pokemon are a very rare occurrence from what I have gathered playing the game. Of course what would be right near the entrance of the large, creepy mausoleum? A Gengar, obviously. As I approached and began the process of catching said Gengar I noticed a small beam of light seeping from the door of the mausoleum. This is where I threw every precaution from my parents, horror movies, and countless friends out the window. I walked right in there with my flashlight up.
The events inside of that mausoleum will never leave my mind for as long as I live. The first thing that I saw were the various flaming lights hanging from the ceiling. Seemed odd that they were lit, and clearly there was a reason for that. I walked in a few more steps and saw the decaying corpses of what I assumed to be a man and wife. The true horror came when I discovered the four steps hidden behind the side housing the husband. Four steps would scar me for the rest of my waking hours.
As is took the first step, I heard the first scream, blood-curdling, chilling, haunting, and most eerily it was a familiar scream. It was a scream that I recognized for some reason.
The second step brought heavy silence. This was more terrifying than the scream.
The third step brought the room into full view. It was a large concrete room, adorned with the same lighting as the room above. There were six openings on the sides of the room, just the right size for a human body. I guess that they could have been for the children of the couple when they passed. But the countless vials and tubes that occupied them now were more terrifying than any skeleton could have ever been. The various glass containers were filled with blood, human organs, and various chemicals.
The fourth step brought me into plain sight of the masked men in the room. Six in total, surrounding a table with a body on it, stripped down naked. This was the source of the scream, and what scared me the most is why the scream was so familiar. It was me. Or a copy of me. I don’t know what it was, but it was exactly me. The hair, the face, the body, even the birthmark on my thigh. I… IT was strapped down to the table, marks visible across its body.
I dropped my phone and ran.
Pokemon the farthest thing from my mind.
I didn’t know what was happening back there, and I had no intentions of ever finding out. I made it to my bike, desperately grabbing at my pant pocket for my keys. No luck. I looked at the gate leading into the cemetery and noted the address. I was over five miles away from home. Not to mention my bike was very valuable. I decided I needed to go back for my keys. I reached into the pouch on my bike and grabbed the measly pocket knife I kept there for self-defense. I turned to face whatever insanity was behind me.
In the rush to make it back to my bike I had ran haphazardly through the graveyard and there was no telling where my keys could be. I had a Bluetooth tag attached to the key ring, but my phone was back with those men. My only choice was to go back. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly but my phone and my keys were two of the most important things I own. They say that in light of a terrifying situation adrenaline can do some amazing things, in my case it did a very stupid thing.
As I moved through the gravestones glancing at the ground and up at the mausoleums I hoped that by some twist of fate I would see the glimmer of my keys laying in the grass.
I did not.
Upon reaching the large mausoleum I found no sign that I was followed. In fact, I found the mausoleum completely sealed. No crack in the door, no lights inside, and no people. I could not comprehend what was happening. Was I imagining what I had saw? No way, it was real. I don’t have my phone. It has to be real. In a moment of delirious rage I smashed my way through the door of the mausoleum.
Nothing. No lights, no people, no screaming. I looked to the sides and saw that the couple were still there. The stairs were still there, and so was my phone, my keys only feet away. I, or whatever IT was, was not there. There were no mysterious men in masks, and no vials or containers. It was empty.
I took my stuff and ran back to my bike. On the ride home I called the police and tried to explain what had happened to a night dispatcher who must have thought I was insane. She said “We will send a patrol over, but I doubt they can do much.” None of my friends believe the story, but I know what I saw. Or maybe I didn’t see anything after all.
