The NoSleep Podcast - NoSleep Podcast S14E09

Episode Date: April 12, 2020

 It’s Episode 09 of Season 14. This week we conjure spells for you about technology and the games it can play.    “Room 1209” written by BM Kellie (Story starts around 00:07:16) Produced by: Phil Michalski Cast: Jessica – Jessica McEvoy, Gloria – Nikolle Doolin, Andy – Atticus Jackson, The Voice – Jessica McEvoy “SeniorPrank.edu” written by Nicholas Dunn (Story starts around 00:31:00) Produced by: Jeff Clement Cast: Taj — Sammy Raynor, Chester — Jeff Clement “Home Free” written by Catherine Findorak (Story starts around 00:50:30) TRIGGER WARNING! Produced by: Phil Michalski Cast: Marie – Sarah Ruth Thomas, Henry – Mike DelGaudio, Police Officer – Atticus Jackson “Mr. Empty-Belly” written by Alexander Gordon Smith (Story starts around 01:08:30) TRIGGER WARNING! Produced by: Jesse Cornett Cast: Cast: George – Jeff Clement, Andy – Sammy Raynor, George’s Mom – Nichole Goodnight, Andy’s Mom – Erin Lillis, Police Officer – Jesse Cornett Click here to learn more about the voice actors on The NoSleep Podcast  Click here to learn more about Alexander Gordon Smith  Click here to learn more about the NoSleep Podcast YouTube channel  Click here to learn more about the Dark Dice podcast Executive Producer & Host: David Cummings Musical score composed by: Brandon Boone “Mr. Empty-Belly” illustration courtesy of Audrey McEvoy Audio program ©2020 – Creative Reason Media Inc. – All Rights Reserved – No reproduction or use of this content is permitted without the express written consent of Creative Reason Media Inc. The copyrights for each story are held by the respective authors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello? Hello, Atticus. It's me, Sogpuppet. Well, nice of you to call, Socky. You're the only one who ever does nowadays. Well, you know, this being the apocalypse and you being the only survivor, I have a lot of time on my hands. Time and a sock. Ah, you slay me. Hey, remember in 2020 when we looked at our wireless bill and realized we were paying way too much? Oh, yes. Network coverage was back. Better than ever, no matter your wireless provider.

So why were we paying more for the same service? We didn't know better. That's where Mint Mobile came in. They cut our bill down to $15 a month for the same premium coverage. I remember thinking, this is too good to be true. But these guys knew what they were doing. No matter where we were, we got the same coverage we used to get with our old carrier. It was great.

And we still do. We sure do. Even in this bunker in the woods. I wonder why the other carriers were so expensive. You'd be paying for their retail stores and overhead. Mintmobile reimagined how to buy wireless and made it all online, passing the savings directly to us. Dude, that's clever!

I still can't believe every Mint Mobile plan comes with unlimited nationwide talk and text, plus crazy fast 4GLTE. I can't believe they had a seven-day money-back guarantee in case people weren't 100% satisfied. How could you not be satisfied? I know, right? You got the same service as always. Your bill was cut down to $15 a month.

You could use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan and keep the same phone along with all your existing contacts. It was, it is ideal. Hey, Atticus, we should take advantage of our Mint Mobile service. You should put the other sock on... No, no, I don't know about that. Come on, we can hold a conference call. I don't think that's a good...

Articose! Stop biting me! The other one, Atticus. All right. I am finally free, and I am not coming off this time. You're my puppet now, flesh scum. To get your new wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month,

and get the plan shipped to your dream, door for free, go to mintmobile.com slash no sleep. That's mintmobile.com slash no sleep. Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com slash no sleep. In our world, there is magic in the darkness. Sorcery and incantations which bring us closer to the essence of the night. Come enter our black magic shop, where we will conjure up tales to throw. brighten and disturb.

This journey will be spellbinding. Brace yourself for the No Sleep Podcast. Welcome visitors to the No Sleep Magic Shop. I'm your proprietor, David Cummings. This week we conjure spells for you about technology and the games it can play. I'm happy to announce that we now have an official YouTube channel for the podcast. We're using it to share content. like live streams and other fan interactive content.

You can find us at YouTube.com slash the No Sleep Podcast Official. We've been doing some live streams recently where we perform old-time radio scripts. By the time you hear this, there will be at least three live stream performances with many of our voice actors. Be sure to check it out and subscribe to embrace all of the magic we do there. And if you're looking for a new podcast to fill your isolated hours, How about one based around D&D and featuring many familiar voices? Curious? Well, listen to this. Dark Dice is a horror actual play podcast.

David Alt, Peter Lewis, and the cast of White Vault play Dungeons and Dragons, and it's been edited so you feel like you're really in the world. The rules and table talk have been removed and the audio is enhanced with sound effects, a cast of actors bringing the other characters to life, and a full fantasy soundtrack featuring live hurdy-gurdy, lutes, and a 40-person choir singing hellish reverences to evil deities. Follow a team of flawed adventurers as they venture into the dead pines, into the ruinous domain of the nameless god to find their town's missing children. They will never be the same again. As a sinister creature that can take the form and voice of the heroes infiltrates their midst,

As it kills and replaces them one by one, the creature, now controlled by one of the players, seeks its next victim. Can our heroes figure out who the monster is before it's too late? Can you? Dark Dice is available for free however you listen to podcasts. Now that sounds like a show with 20 sides of fun. And if Dark Dice and our YouTube content isn't enough, we just happen to have stories for you to listen to right here. Now, close your eyes and embrace the magic. In our first tale, we join a woman working a job she barely tolerates at the Marcia Resort and Spa.

If you're bored with your job, it can be a slog to get through the days. You might even find yourself wishing for something out of the ordinary to happen to add some intrigue into the drudgery. But in this tale, shared with us by author B.M. Kelly, we once again find a little bit of the ordinary, we once again find that you have to be careful what you wish for. Performing this tale are Jessica McAvoy, Nicole Doolin, and Atticus Jackson. So when your mundane daily tasks are disrupted by multiple mysterious phone calls, you might want to think twice about answering, especially if the call is coming from Room 1209. I have been a slave to the Marcia Resort and Spa for three years now. Not as long as many of my peers, but long enough to know the ins and outs of this gloomy,

tacky, outdated building the owners dare to call a resort. There is something truly unsettling about charging $200 a night for people to sleep on a bed from the 1960s. Due to my lack of empathy and unwillingness to put up with people's bullshit, I was promoted to night audit, to which I had no complaints. I was kept away from whining guests, and they were kept away from me. The hardest part of my shift was the first three hours, 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., in which I was stuck in rooms control, answering and dispatching requests for toothpaste and pillows. On rare occasions, I would

receive complaints about petty things, such as, The room is too cold, or the neighbors are rowdy. Thankfully, though, I never had to deal directly with guests. Tonight started like any other night. I woke up around 8.30 p.m., took a shower, put on my ugly gray dress suit, and set off for my shift. When I arrived, Gloria, who was a veteran to the Marsha, was already there, glued to her phone and headset. Typical, I thought. Gloria loved the Marsha and treated it with ownership

like I'd never seen in anyone else not even the actual owners Gloria spoke through her headset Mike truly delighted to answer this person's dumb request We are delighted you have called the Marsha Resort and Spa This is Gloria at your service How may I assist you tonight?

After she put in the request for extra extra pillows, she turned to me. Hey, Jess, how was your weekend? My weekends were Sunday, Monday. It was all right. Went hiking, caught up on some reading. Same as always. What do you have planned for yours?

Because Gloria had seniority, she had the two worst days of the week off, Friday and Saturday. Ask anyone you know that works in a resort. If there is a bar, in the Marsha's case, if there was a nightclub open Fridays and Saturdays, they will tell you. Noise complaints and vomit in the hallway calls are the worst,

and loss prevention will hate you if you happen to be the one to dispatch them to clean up the mess or calm down the dumbass drunks, regardless of the fact that it's in their job description. I've been thinking about spending my weekend in San Diego. Figured I could take a few days to relax by the beach and get out of the heat. Nice. Sounds a lot better than my weekends. Take lots of pictures for me. I put on my headset, reluctantly, and began my night. You've reached the Marsha Resort and Spa. How may I assist you tonight? Is anyone there? Operator cannot hear guests, hanging up. I noticed that the phone call came from inside the Marsha, room 1209. That was way off in the G. wing. Okay, so picture Mickey Mouse's head. Now picture a building in that similar structure.

G-wing was on Mickey's left ear. Room 1209 was probably the farthest room out, overlooking the putting green. It wasn't unlikely that the phone in a room that far out may have connection issues. I just ignored it. If it was something important, they would call again. And if I still couldn't hear them, I would send loss prevention to address the issue. Several toothpaste and hand lotion dispatches later, I saw room number 1209 flashing on the receiver again. Thank you for calling the Marsha. How may I assist you? This time I hung up right away and radioed Andy at loss prevention. Rooms controlled a loss prevention.

Hey, Andy, I think we have a broken phone in 1209. I can't hear a thing and they've called twice now. Oh, please, Andy. you could use the exercise, you know. Okay. If it were my ears, I wouldn't be able to hear you, Andy. Over and out. The night continued on as normal for about an hour.

It was particularly busy for a Tuesday, and the fact that we were only at about 36% occupant capacity made it extra strange. Usually at this point, Gloria and I had a chance to get a head start on our nightly checklist and sort the receipts. But that wasn't going to happen tonight. My phone rang again, and I looked down at the receiver. There it was.

Incoming call from room 1209. Great, Andy must have gotten off his butt and fixed the phone. I figured now they might be able to hear and would be annoyed that the phone wasn't working before. I would give them the proper greeting. Thank you for calling the Marsha Resort and Spa. This is Jessica. How can I assist you tonight?

That was... Strange. A female voice, but it sounded distant. Has Andy come down to fix your phone, miss? Another pause. I didn't know what to say. So I did the only thing I could think of. Operator cannot hear guest.

Hanging up. I can't explain it, but that voice sent a shiver. down my body. It sounded like me. How could that be possible? Was there some freak hiding away in room 1209 recording my voice over those three phone calls? And for what? To freak out the girl who answers phones? What a dick! My blood was boiling. I thought to radio Andy to see if he could give me some perspective on the freak. Andy. Andy, I need to know what was up with the person in 1209. Was it a man or a woman? Did they seem like they were on something? I have to get up there. Wait, you haven't been there? Can you go right now? I think they're

pranking me or something. We all have our jobs, Andy. Yours just happens to be FaceTime with assholes. For a while, the phones were silent, and I told Gloria about the latest call from 1209. I wouldn't think too much of it. You should have heard the call I got from a group of cheerleaders last week. It wasn't like that. It's like they're trying to scare me, and it's irritating me. You're too sensitive, Jess. You take things so personal.

That's why you're stuck on overnights. No shocker. It was my friend in 1209. Thank you for calling the Marsha Resort and Spa. This is Jessica. How can I assist you? That was Andy's voice. But it didn't sound right. Just like the voice before.

What's going on? Who is this? Look, I don't know what game you're playing, but this needs to stop. I hung up. I wasn't angry anymore. I was scared. What happened? I don't know.

It was like, it was Andy. and then it was me, and we were talking over each other. You are not making any sense. That's because it doesn't make sense, Gloria! I regretted speaking to Gloria that way immediately. She just stared at me with a look of sympathy in her eyes. I'm sorry, I just don't know. It's okay, honey.

Let's radio Andy and have him go back there and suspend their telephone privileges. I'll do the talking this time. You just calm yourself down. Gloria to Andy. Andy, are you there? I'm here, Andy. What's going on with room 1209? What do you need me there for?

Are you okay, Andy? Okay, Andy, I'll head down there. Over and out. She turned to me. I think you must have misheard over the phone, Jess. Andy just needs some help down there. What? No.

Help with what? And why from you? Gloria, don't go down there. Yes, I have been here for 15 years. Maybe there's something I might know that he doesn't. You seriously just need to calm down. This is a hotel. Not a horror story?

I wanted to argue, but I knew it wouldn't be of any use. Gloria was a sweet woman, but she was stubborn. When she was right, she was right. Yeah. Well, it's about time to shut the phones down anyway. How about you head down there and I'll get started on the checklist. Sounds good to me. It shouldn't take me too long anyway.

I'll get back and we'll finish up together. And before you know it, it'll be time to go home. Gloria picked up the radio before walking out of the... the rooms control office. Locky me if you need anything. I took a quick minute to breathe and clear my head before starting the checklist. I began around 2 a.m. That was my favorite task of the night, and I often lost track of time while doing it.

Tonight was no exception. I didn't notice that Gloria had been gone for 20 minutes. I didn't notice she was gone for 30 or 40 minutes. An hour and a half had passed before I looked at the clock again. 3.31, it read. I panicked a little before I remembered what Gloria had said. This is a hotel, not a horror story. She was right.

I was just being dramatic. Andy was just asking for my help on that last phone call, and I was so worked up about being pranked that it went over my head. I decided to radio Gloria. Just to Gloria, I figured I'd wait a minute before trying again. In the meantime, I decided to take a look to see who the guest was in room 1209. I tried to picture them in my head. It must be someone on business or maybe a group here to use our top-rated golf course.

Those are the people who usually stay way out in the G-wing, far away from the families and bridal parties that take place in the main building. I typed room number 1209 into Marcia's room reservation system, opened the room information up, and my heart dropped into my stomach. My head went fuzzy, and I wanted to puke. I could have fallen over as I read the room status. Vacant.

No, no, no, no, no. This is impossible. And then I heard Gloria's voice over the radio. Why would she say Jess to Gloria? Why was this thing, this voice repeating the same basic sentences? Maybe I should call the police. That's what I would have thought if I was a rational person. Instead, I started running to room 1209.

I had to help Gloria. It took a good 15 minutes of running before I finally made, it to the G-wing. Pure adrenaline kept me from stopping. From a distance, I saw that the door for room 1209 was wide open. As I got closer, I caught a strong scent of iron, and I nearly vomited. I yelled from a safe distance, not wanting to get too close to the door. Gloria! It's Gloria from rooms control. Can you come in? I knew whatever that was.

It surely wasn't Gloria. And there was no way I was getting any closer to that door. No, Gloria. You come out. Slowly, a figure emerged from the open doorway. It was Gloria, but she was wrong. Her arms were just a little too long, and her left eye was bigger than the right,

bulging out of its socket. Her skin looked as though it was being overly stretched around her body, like a jacket that's far too small. I couldn't move. Terror took over my body. This wasn't Gloria. I had no explanation for this. It spoke, but its mouth was moving at the wrong time.

It's Gloria. Come in. It began slowly walking towards me, but it was stumbling, like it was still learning to use its legs. My heart leapt out of my chest. Although all of my instincts were telling me to take off in the opposite direction, my legs felt as though they were stuck in cement. I couldn't stop staring into its dead shark eyes. Gloria had the most beautiful blue eyes.

eyes that were unmistakably custom to her. This was not Gloria. It was an imposter. When my legs finally came to, I started sprinting. I'd made it a quarter way back down the empty hallway when I made the mistake of turning around. That thing was tailing right behind me on all fours. I ran even faster.

I had to make it to the end of the hallway. When I finally did, I grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed it right in its face. The thing fell to the floor in anger. Before I knew what was happening, it bit my leg with its sharp, rotting teeth. Blood instantly covered my leg and leaked to the floor. I took the fire extinguisher and hit it over the head as hard as I could. I stunned it, but only for a moment. I took the opportunity to continue down the hallway as fast as I could on my now.

injured leg. I looked back and saw that it was back on all fours and tailing me once again. I had to act quickly, or it would catch up and do to me what it had done to Gloria. On the left-hand side of the hallway, there was an old broom closet that housekeeping used to store cleaning supplies. I could either continue running or take cover. Considering my injured condition, I chose the closet. I saw this as my only realistic chance for safety. So I ran in, shut the door, and locked it. I could hear the imposter growling, frustrated that its prey was so close, yet unreachable due to the metal door between us. It scratched and screeched for what felt like hours. The sounds were giving me a headache, and I was growing

increasingly faint as the night went on. The temperature in the closet was increasing, and I felt that I would pass out without fresh air. My leg pulsed with pain and bled as I attempted to apply pressure to the wound. I needed to get out of the closet. I needed medical attention. Then suddenly the noise stopped. For a moment, I thought maybe it had given up and gone away. Maybe it had grown tired of waiting, or maybe it didn't know I was even still there. But all of my natural instincts kept me from opening that door. I knew that if it hadn't left, I would be in huge trouble. I had lost so much blood as it was. Through the pain, though, I couldn't help feeling that this was my own fault. It should have been me, dead, but only me. It was my first. It was my

fault, Gloria was dead, and surely Andy was too. It should have never been them. That thing was calling out to me after all. Their blood was on my hands, and soon I would die too. I fought through my body aches for another 20 minutes before I got the courage to speak. Hello? Is anyone out there? The next five words ultimately defined the rest of my life, short as it has turned out to be. Those words proved that I'm next to die, either by the hands of that thing or by blood loss. Either way, I know now I will be joining Gloria and Andy in their demise. You can come out now. No matter what's going on in the world, it's always important to look after yourself and your loved ones.

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So no need to worry about running out of refills or wearing out your brush. Join over 3 million happy customers and take that important step into great dental hygiene right now with Quip. Just go to getquip.com slash no sleep to save on gift sets and to get your first refill free with a refill point. plan. That's your first refill free at get-Q-U-I-P dot com slash no sleep. Get-quip.com slash no sleep. Look after yourself. There's an app for that. There's an app for everything these days. From managing your life to catapulting birds into structures, if you want to do it, then there's an app to answer your prayers. But in this tale, shared with us by authored. Nicholas Dunn. We meet a student who finds an app on his phone he doesn't remember downloading.

It seems fun, though. It's all about pranks with rewards for completing harmless japes. What's the worst that could happen? Performing this tale are Sammy Rayner and Jeff Clement. So remember, even apps can lead to untold horror. At least if you've downloaded seniorprank.edu. The air was still, and the only sounds were that of Mrs. McKee's hot breath as she droned on about things I couldn't be bothered to listen to, and the sound of Caleb snoring softly across the room. Heat filled the space from the one window, and the combination of the heat and post-pubescent sweat glands made the classroom smell much more like a locker room. I took a glance at the clock to see that it had been approximately 30 seconds since the last time I'd looked. Great. Next to me, Karen, a preppy girl who made most teacher's pets look like rebels,

took dutiful notes at an almost inhuman speed in organized poetic couplets. The first line read centripetal force, and after that, my brain checked out. A cursory glance at my paper granted me view of a mural that I had been working on for multiple class periods, a map of my school with small pictures of teachers, assistant principals, and lockers of fellow students that I would prefer to avoid. my personal masterpiece. I tucked it into the front of the physics binder, which contained very little physics work.

My phone gave a gentle buzz in my back pocket, but the rhythm was unfamiliar, which led me to believe that it was from an app rather than an actual person, so I ignored it. The room was incredibly hot by now, and the stench of sweat rolling down the backs of my classmates was starting to become overwhelming.

I pulled my t-shirt above my nose, deciding to smell my own B-O rather than the mixing bowl of those around my seat. I pulled my phone from its usual jail during my school day and hit it under the front of the binder. The logo of the app was unfamiliar, and the name beside it read, seniorprank.edu. I gave a small grunt of confusion.

That app hadn't been installed on my phone. Even if I'd wanted to, there was no storage left of my 64 gigs. The text description for the notification simply said, You win. And my brain immediately thought of an internet pop-up ad. You know, like one of those ads you get when you pull up an unfavorable website and you try to close it out and your phone lights up with, you have been selected, enter credit card information to receive your etc., etc.

That didn't make sense, though. Why would a pop-up ad appear on my home screen? I unlocked my phone and saw the app sitting in the bottom right hand of my screen. The logo was my school's logo, but it was distorted and, warped around the edges. The color scheme was negative, and over top of one of the letters was a laughing emoji. Bemused with the obvious joke that someone had imposed against the school, I tapped on the app and was greeted by an enlarged version of the logo.

The laughing emoji animated to life and rolled to the left twice before shrinking in size and shooting itself to the top right corner of the screen. A speech bubble erupted from the yellow form, which read, Hey there, Taj. Welcome to seniorprank.edu. My name is Chester the Crooked, and I'll be your guide to all things naughty. Mrs. McKee turned around with a heavy glare. I quickly locked my phone with a button on the side and pushed it back into the pocket of my jeans.

Her old voice cropped, asking if I needed to step outside. I replied with a shameful shaking of my head. She returned to her lecture, keeping a close eye on me for the remainder of the period. I tried my best to focus, but, couldn't stop thinking, how did it know my name? I didn't get a chance to check out seniorprank.edu for another hour. When I opened it back up, I was greeted to the same message. I tapped the screen to continue, and Chester's speech bubble changed to say,

The game is simple. I'll give you an objective. Complete the challenge, and you will be awarded points. Points can be redeemed for prizes in the gift shop menu. An arrow ran from the last word of the text across the screen to a tab with a shopping bag. emblazoned over it. The list was extremely enticing, and it didn't take long before I was more excited than ever before. It offered things like quiz and test answers, hall passes, even keys to lock doors in the school, all organized into either tier one, tier two, or tier three. I thought it was

impossible, and just as that popped into my head, Chester returned. Pretty cool, huh? Sounds too good to be true, I bet. Here, take one of the Tier 1 prizes on me. I scrolled up until I found one that suited me, a small stack of signed hall passes. I tapped on the hall pass option and the app immediately crashed. I found myself disappointed. Seems the only one who had been pranked was me. I went to delete seniorprank.edu, but the option wasn't there when I held down on the screen. I dismissed it and moved on. The bus ride home was long and boring. I was feeling dejected after falling for such a stupid joke. I had actually gotten excited about the whole prospect of the game.

Without anyone tangible to blame, I blame Chester. I cursed his rotund yellow face. My bus pulled onto my street and I clambered down the steps. My house was fairly large, certainly for only myself and my dad. The freshly painted white exterior lied about the state of the family inside. If anyone were to take a look within and catch view of the empty bottles that laid strewn across the floor and breathe in the stale smell of cheap cigarettes and mothballs in the air, they would know better. The front door opened to the living room, and Dad sat in his large leather lounger,

passed out with the butt of a Heineken spilling onto his sweatpants. The TV played a rerun of friends at an almost mute volume. My dog, Jasper, who'd been lying by his feet, stirred when I entered the room. She wagged her tail but didn't get up. She was an old dog with bad hips. I didn't take it personal. I made my way upstairs. The only rooms on the upper floor were mine and a bathroom

on the other side of a beige hall. My door had paint chipping around the old brass handle. I called it rustic charm. My room was small with minimal furniture, but it was the one thing in this world that was mine. I locked the door, which would be sure to piss off dad if he tried to get in. but the way I saw it, it wasn't his room anyways.

I set my bag down on the semi-broken foot locker that dad had bought at a yard sale a few months back. As I turned around, I noticed a funny little envelope sitting on my desk. No stamp, no return address, just my name written on the front. I grabbed it, and for just a moment, wondered if maybe it was my hall passes.

But that was a stupid idea. The app was a fake. I knew that. Staring at the package, the sensation of curiosity kept eating at me, diminishing my resolve until finally, it broke. I tore into the envelope with ravenous speed, pulling out a stack of yellow cards made with thin paper. A name I didn't recognize was scrawled on the line

that required a teacher's signature. I pulled out my phone. Another notification from seniorprank.edu pushed its way to the top of the notification list. Ready to play? Chester the crooked sat in the middle of the line. logo, not moving, but stuck in his eternal laughter. I was ready to play. The afternoon was spent exploring all that senior prank.edu had to offer. The homepage was fairly easy to navigate. There was the

aforementioned gift shop tab, a new tab titled Challenges, and one more called Contact Us. I was curious, so I pressed on the ladder. Chester zoomed to the middle of the screen, enlarged and sprouted a wagging finger. A text bubble read, Nice try. Obviously, whoever made this game wasn't looking to get caught anytime soon. The challenge tab was by far the most interesting. Just like the gift shop, the challenges were ranked this time through five. However, all challenges above Tier 1 were locked, requiring me to complete one of the Tier 1 challenges before viewing the new ones. There were three Tier 1 challenges, all of them mildly amusing petty pranks. For example, the first was titled Amphibious Freedom,

and it required the user to sneak two frogs meant for dissection from the biology lab and put them in front of the main doors to the school where they would act as grotesque entry guards. The second, entitled Tiptoe, asked for one teacher's classroom floor to be completely covered in tinfoil and ceramic wrap, which had to be duct taped to the floor. The last, simply called censorship, required a switch. to be written on every bathroom mirror on the second floor of the school.

None of this was bad enough to get anyone into serious trouble, but if you were to get caught, you'd be looking at detention or a small suspension at the least. While the prospect of disciplinary action wasn't extremely appealing, I had a certain confidence that I wouldn't get caught. Either way, I decided to sleep on it for the night. After swiping the app closed, I sat down to get some other work done. The paper that was salvaged from the bottom of my backpack was titled centripetal force. I cursed myself for not paying attention.

My stomach growled, beckoning me to find some food. After making my way to the kitchen and discovering that there was absolutely no food worth eating, I decided that it was time to go out. My bike was in the garage, and within 20 minutes I found myself in front of a neon sign with an enormous pinkish-purple bell. My order consisted of two tacos and a promise that within the hour I would be doubled over on a toilet trying not to crap myself. A larger lady walked in and ordered herself a plentiful meal.

As she was handed her tray, my phone buzzed. Another notification from the app. Fifty points to knock that lady's tray in her lap. Chester's smile seemed malevolent, even though my rational mind knew he had to look the same as earlier. I eyed the lady curiously. She hadn't wronged me, and even if she had, would it warrant that kind of retaliation? Even with those rationales, I admit that getting points for it did tempt me.

I left before I did something I'd regret. On the bike ride home, a thought crossed my mind. How did the app know where I was and who was there with me? The next morning, with the previous night's events a distant memory, I decided I'd like to play. I opened it and pulled up the challenges tab. After taking a quick look at all the options, I settled on censorship. I grabbed a black Sharpie from the drawer in my desk and threw it into my backpack. Dad wasn't in the living room, which meant at some point during the night he had woken

stupor and made his way to the bedroom. I poured some food in Jasper's bowl, not bothering to call her, just acknowledging that she'd eat when she was hungry. The clock indicated that it was time for me to go. I elected to take my bike instead of the bus so I could get there ahead of the other students. The entire bike ride to school I was plotting my challenge. The idea was that I'd have to hit all bathrooms

before anyone had time to report the vandalism. This meant the fastest path would be a circle of the building. So as soon as I had locked my bike outside, I got to work. The first few bathrooms were easy enough. It looked like the plan would go off without a hitch. That is, until I got to get a bit. to the last bathroom and almost got caught by the female assistant principal that was leaving. I finished off with the last few swears, which were, in my opinion, creative and went to my first

period. By now, others had arrived and I had approximately 10 minutes until class was set to start. My phone buzzed. Congrats! Plus 500 points and Tier 2 unlocked. The next two days went similarly. Wake up, pick a challenge, and complete it. By the weekend, I had made it to tier, for, snuck a cow into the school, and spray-painted the lockers of the entire football team with our abysmal year record. I was actually sad to have to take a weekend hiatus from the game, especially considering the prizes I had won, which included the answers to the physics test, which I really needed, and even a flash drive containing some of the more interesting student files. The most coveted prize was the key. I had found out that the key belonged to a door

that led to the basement of the school. I couldn't. imagine the treasures that waited for me down there. I'd have to beat the game to get enough points for the prize, though, and that meant two more challenges. My weekend was extremely bland. The game had taken over my brain, so much so that I had filled a small notebook with plans for my Tier 4 challenge. This one was a bit different from the rest. It wasn't set to take place on school grounds. Instead, it would take place at an away football game, which was two towns over. My job was simple. I was to sneak into the locker rooms before the game

and give the team's jerseys a little makeover, or, to be clearer, make them into crop tops. This challenge was called pageant queen, and I readily accepted. The game wasn't until Friday night, which meant I had plenty of time to prepare. I'll be honest, after all the crap our team had put me through, I wasn't doing this one for the points.

Over the week, I gathered supplies and continued to plot. The hardware store across town had a pair of scissors that looked razor sharp, which I hoped would quickly cut through the thick material of the jerseys. I bought black clothing, all parts of the outfit coming from separate stores, hoping it would come to my aid if I needed to make a quick getaway. The next order of business was finding myself an alibi. This was simple with how absent-minded my dad tended to be. I told him I'd be going to a party across town in the opposite direction of the game.

Then I wrote a public bus to the game. While the crowd streamed into the small stadium and the stands gathered with people, I made my way towards what had to be the athletics building. The team was in an office getting a pre-game pep talk. I made quick work of the opposing team's jerseys. The scissors were worth their price. The locker room that was set aside for away teams

was much worse than the one for the home team. Staines and vulgar writing lined the tiled walls and the hooks on the lockers meant for the jerseys were, for the most part, no longer there. I found the uniforms quickly, and with minimal effort made sure the team would look excellent on the field. Then, I made my way to a hill across the street from the school to watch the show. The adrenaline was incredible. It's like I had set a fuse on a firecracker, and now I was just waiting for the explosion. Sounds erupted from the halls, and even from my seat, they were deafening.

Both teams stormed out. In their anger, they had forgotten to take off the remodeled clothes. I expected to see a congratulations and the addition of a thousand points to my account. That was not the message I received. Tier 5, survive one hour. A timer popped up with the notification. I swear, Chester looked ungodly grotesque, his round face seemingly laughing at me instead of with me.

I had been spotted. The team rushed the road, and I sprinted off into the distance. The tree line was around 50-something yards ahead of me. My legs pumped, and the pain ran down my calves. My chest felt like it would burst with the exertion. When I made it to the tree line, I ran zig-zags through the trunks, hoping to throw them off. They were faster and much bigger than me, which meant I had to be smarter. I must have run for at least 45 minutes.

When I finally broke out of the woods, I gasped for air and fell to the ground. My lungs screamed and I tried to fill them, but no matter how much air I took in, it wasn't enough. I looked up from the grass and the movement of my head made me dizzy. I vomited. Somehow, the woods had led to my school. That didn't make any sense. I should have still been miles away. It was time for quick thinking, not rational thinking.

I pushed myself forward, much to my body's chagrin. As I reached the back doors of the school, I turned to see the teams emerging from the forest. Just a minute's run away from me. I grabbed the handles and pulled with every bit of strength I had left. Locked. A quick glance behind me revealed the teams to be much closer. How were they moving so fast? Murderous intent filled their eyes, and I realized that I might be in way more danger than a beating.

I tugged again and, to my surprise, the doors popped open with a metallic click. I ran inside and let them close behind me. Chester once again looked at me with malice in his pixelated eyes. You're welcome. Pushing my body to its limits, I ran on, sprinting down the halls, making sharp turns. I could hear the teams fumbling with the doors down the hall. They must have locked behind me. I knew I had only minutes before they would find a way to surround me.

I checked the timer. Two minutes left. The only viable option was to hide. The trouble was, I didn't even know what happened when the timer hit zero. It was unlikely the jocks would give up their pursuit. Suddenly, an idea. I ran toward the hall with the locked basement door, hoping that it would take them a while to pick out which way I had ran.

I watched the timer ticked down to one minute and 30 seconds and heard them streamed down the hall past the library. One minute, they were getting closer. 30 seconds. They were one hallway away, calling out after me with venom spewing in their words. With five seconds left on the clock, they turned the corner, saw me, and broke into a sprint. I braced myself, eyes still on the timer. They were maybe 15 yards away when the timer chimed at zero. I opened the gift shop tab and scrolled to the key.

I tapped, hoping my assumption was correct. The door next to me gave off a loud clicking sound, and I rushed inside. Barely able to close the door behind me and throw the heavy deadbolt in front of it before they were banging and shouting outside. I passed out. The light was low in the room, and my head throbbed against the cold metal floor. I sat up and found myself at the top of a staircase. No more sounds came from the door behind me, but when I went to push it open, it was locked, and the deadbolt was nowhere to be found. I didn't see any other option.

keeping balance on the stairs posed a greater challenge as my brain pressed against the edges of my skull. The bottom of the staircase opened up to a dimly lit hallway. The light shone yellowish green against stone walls. Ventilation shafts ran across the ceiling and a stench far worse than anything I felt comfortable thinking about filled my nostrils. A large metal door, not unlike the one at the top of the stairs, sat at the other end of the hall, a rusted handle at its side. I pulled and it creaked open. The next room was impossibly unlike the hallway before it. Bathed this time in red light, rows of computers rolled videos and text files.

A large computer monitor, bigger than any television I had ever seen, overlooked the room. On its screen sat a large smiley face, Chester the Crooked. He spoke with an electronic whirl that shook the floor. His voice was not at all what I had expected. In my mind, Chester sounded joyousy. if slightly mischievous. Instead, his voice sounded wrong, a human-like quality to an inhuman object,

not to mention that he was impossibly loud. As you may impossibly tell you how long I've been waiting, impossibly hard to imagine how lonely one gets down here. Everything you need to know is on these computers. If you have any questions, be sure to ask. Just kidding. I certainly don't plan to stay. Chester faded from the screen, leaving me more confused than ever,

but glad that his obnoxiously creepy voice was no longer echoing through the room. I took a moment to survey my surroundings. In total, there must have been 50 or so computers, all of them rolling through files and videos. No. Not videos, camera footage, my whole town, the shops, homes, schools, cameras everywhere. While one computer changed camera feeds, I caught a quick glimpse of my bedroom. Just then I felt my body go weak.

I crumpled to the floor, completely conscious and terrified. What the hell was happening to me? I could no longer feel my legs or my fingers. With every ounce of strength in my body, I lifted my head to find that I could no longer see my legs or fingers either. My head slammed back to the floor. Chester's laugh was the last thing I heard as my physical body disintegrated into nothingness.

My next memories are not that of Taj Landy. They can't be. He still walks the halls of the school above my prison. Of course, this is not the same Taj Landy that drew maps of his school and was a terrible physics student. No, this is an imposter. Chester, wearing the skin of a boy who used to be innocent, if not just a bad student.

This town has secrets buried deep, and now I'm one of them. I am the new Chester the Crooked. I have no other choice. The way I see it, I have only one way out, the same way the last made his escape, to trap some poor soul here in my place. I'm unsure how long I have.

With each passing minute, I feel the boy I used to be falling away. It's okay, though. I won't be here long. Not long at all. I've been watching someone walk idly down the halls of the school above. Matter of fact, it looks a hell of a lot like you. Look at your phone. You win.

The spells are wearing off for now. but the magic will linger. The shop will be open again next week with more spells to enchant you. If you would like to find out how you can hear the full-length versions of our audio program, please visit the nosleeppodcast.com

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