1 [SoM] | This is just a chatroom | *NSFW* <1>

I guess you could call me a chatroom veteran. I've been on and off, in and out of plenty of chatrooms throughout my entire life on the internet. I've been in boring ones droning on about boring things, interesting ones talking about interesting things, and… well, weird ones. Talking about… all sorts of unusual things. And gross, maybe even scary things too.

But nothing—nothing ever beats this one. This story just doesn't sound right being told from my point of view, so… here's the transcript, along with my reactions.

<You have joined Chatroom 1. Three other members present.>

[You]: Hi

Member 1: Heyy

[You]: Hey… what's up?

Member 1: Nothing much really ngl

[You]: Ohkaaaaaaay… what do y'all talk abt here? What abt the other 2 ppl? Are they active?

Member 1: They r, js not talking ig

<Member 2 is offline. Two other members present.>

[You]: Well, he's gone now

Member 1: Ye

[You]: U still haven't told me what y'all talk abt…

Member 1: That's coz we don't talk about anything much… until someone else comes in

Like u

[You]: What's that supposed to mean?

Member 3: Click this and you'll know <justchat.onion> . The code is {093711#asBqg} We'll see you there.

<Member 3 is offline. One other member present.>

<Member 1 is offline. No one present.>

(I probably shouldn't have clicked the link, but in hindsight, curiosity probably overtook my sense of logic. But what harm could it do, right? It's just a link. But then again, curiosity kills the cat… it always does.)

System: Welcome to <justchat.onion> . You do not have permission to send messages. A moderator will be with you shortly.

Moderator: Code?

(A text box appeared in the middle of my screen. I typed 093711#asBqg into the text box, which promptly disappeared with a cheerful ding.)

Moderator: Ah, it's you again. 1 other witness shall join you shortly.

[You]: Witness? What do u mean by "me again"?

Moderator: We spoke just now.

[You]: Okay… what's this abt? U're lowkey starting to creep me out

Moderator: You'll see.

(I stupidly waited instead of getting the hell out of that chatroom. One dumb move leads to another, eh?)

System: <Anne has joined>

Moderator: Alright, she's here.

System: This chatroom has been locked. No one can enter or exit this chat until this chat is unlocked.

(I stared openmouthed and my hand was so drenched with sweat that it stuck to the mouse. I don't even know why I was nervous to begin with but… what good reason could anyone have for wanting to lock a chatroom that way?)

[You]: What's this about? Who're they?

Moderator: Where were you the Saturday before last?

{I squinted. Where was this going?)

[You]: Saturday before last? Uh

I think I was at a mall?

Moderator: After that?

[You]: I went home?

System: <Moderator_2 has joined>

Moderator: On your way home, you did something. You stopped somewhere. Where?

[You]: Why're u asking me? U sound like u have the answer, so just tell me, goddamit!

Moderator_2: Coz if we tell you, shit's gonna be much more painful for you. That's why

Moderator: Just answer the questions we have, and it won't be so painful.

[You]: I was at some protest thing? Why?

Moderator: What sort of protest?

[You]: I don't know… some activist thing

Moderator: Don't know or don't remember or don't want to remember?

[You]: Uh, don't remember… was it some female rights thing?

Moderator: What did you say to your girlfriend as you watched the protest, albeit briefly?

[You]: That the people protesting looked stupid?

Moderator: Was that the right thing to say?

[You]: No? But it was js a joke! I swear on my life!

Moderator: Some jokes aren't funny and shouldn't be said aloud. And you swore on your life, so with your life you shall pay.

(I'm not gonna lie, I was freaking out big time and I really hoped this was a joke. It had to be a joke, right? I was at that protest and all, but you know how some people take jokes too far? Yeah, this had to be one of those times. But why the Dark Web? Why was this chat in here?)

[You]: Wait! There gotta be a way I can fix this

Right?

Moderator: If you mean by your death, yes.

[You]: No, like… make amends. Or something.

Moderator: By your death you will make amends.

(Now I knew this had to be a joke. This Moderator person sounded so formal that he or she just didn't sound serious. Yes, this was a joke. Definitely a joke.)

[You] There has to be another way, right? There's always another way.

Moderator: This time there's only one way out. One thing I can do, however, is to prolong your life. By a few minutes, of course.

[You]: And what? You're gonna torture me?

Moderator: You have a phone beside you, no? Call your girlfriend.

[You]: How the fuck do you even know I have a phone beside me?

Moderator: Always remember to turn your webcam off, boy. Always.

(My eyes widened in panic and I stared at the top of my screen. Sure enough, there was a blinking light. I panicked and tried to turn my webcam off but the light kept blinking as if it was mocking me.)

Moderator: It's too late. Nothing you do will turn it off. Now, call your girlfriend.

(With shaky fingers, I twisted my wrist to the side and inch by inch, got hold of my phone and called my girlfriend, putting her on speaker because I could not put the phone to my ear properly. The call went through, yet I could hear nothing but heavy breathing. I narrowed my eyes because… this was my sister's number, right?]

[You]: What's this? Why's she not picking up the phone?

Moderator: Let us call this… an eye for an eye, yes?

[You]: What eye? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY SISTER?

Moderator_2: Think we're gonna let you off so easily? Ha. First her eye, then her teeth to complete that saying "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth"

[You]: I DIDN'T HURT ANYONE!

Moderator: Oh, you did without knowing, but you won't anymore. I suggest you head to the basement. You have a basement, yes?

[Why in the world was this guy asking me to go to the basement? Was I supposed to get something from there? Not knowing why I was to head down, I asked a stupid question.]

[You]: Why? If you want me to get something down there just tell me what it is!

Moderator: Fine.

[Now we were getting somewhere, I thought to myself. What I saw next, however, made me realise that I had been at square one since the very start. No progress whatsoever.]

Moderator_2: We want you to get yourself down there. We're giving ye a choice to do it on your own free will, because either way, you're ending up in your basement

[You]: Own free will?! Have you two gone mad?

Moderator: You'd be the one who has gone mad if you continue challenging our instructions. Go down to the basement. We'll know if you do or you don't.

[A pause, and then another message from the Moderator popped up.]

Moderator: Ironic how you installed all those cameras for security purposes, and they end up being your sad, pitiful downfall instead. Get down there.

[Cameras… cameras? They got into my CCTV cams? Now, I knew that this was bad. Horribly bad. If they could hack into my cams, I don't know what they'd do to me if I didn't comply.

I grabbed my laptop and ran down the stairs, locking the door. If I obeyed them but locked myself in, just like the chat, nothing goes in and nothing goes out. Technically. Right? When I opened my laptop in the basement, the chatroom, however, told me a different narrative of what might happen next.]

Moderator: Excellent. Do you really think locking a door can stop us?

[How the fuck did they—nay, I'm not even going to bother asking that question. I couldn't believe what was happening—don't tell me they can hack a tumbler-and-key lock open with some "ingenious" device… but what if they could? My palms turned clammy. I don't know who they are, and I don't want to know.]

[You]: No?

[A new window popped up from the bottom right corner of my screen.]

Moderator: Since you stupidly decided to leave your phone upstairs, you won't have the blessing of not seeing your poor girlfriend's fate. Maximize that window.

[My mouse seemed to move on its own accord and clicked the "maximize" tab. A black background filled my screen, and I couldn't make out what I was supposed to be seeing.

Four letters " L I V E" slowly appeared in the top right corner and the scene of nothingness playing out on my laptop gradually brightened to reveal a face covered by a whole head of hair. The camera panned downwards painfully slowly to reveal a familiar figure—a naked body that probably used to belong to someone who carried herself with pride and dignity.

Now? She was just a body barely held together on borrowed time, with large chunks of her skin gone here and there. Some places of her body had so much skin gone that I could see the pulsing muscles that weren't supposed to be exposed out in the open.

I felt sorry for the girl and was distraught when I realized I would have no way of helping her get away from her pain quickly. Lost in my own thoughts, I was surprised when a gloved hand reached in front of the camera and brushed her hair away from her face, revealing her all-too-familiar features.

My surprise quickly turned into shock and then fear. I knew something had happened to my girlfriend, but they had done this?

No, no, no… this was not happening. My girlfriend—how had they gotten to her? It'd make sense they'd know my location, but not hers! I felt my stomach turn over and over, and bile rose up my throat in no time. I couldn't think straight and my mind had turned into a mess. My fingers shook as I typed my next message.]

[You]: Why her?

Moderator: "Sacrifices must be made for the greater good." I'm sure you've heard of that.

[You]: NOT THIS SORT OF SACRIFICE! Weren't you going to take me?

Moderator: Oh, we are. We will. Bit by bit. Perhaps not in the way you think we will, but eventually, you will be gone.

[Shit, shit, shit. This was not happening. Not those typical villain lines when I'm literally at my wits' ends. I was almost scared to ask, but I had to. I needed to know.]

[You]: Are you gonna kill her?

Moderator: Maybe.

[You]: Torture her?

Moderator: We already are.

[You]: What happens after you kill her?

Moderator: You can go back to your life outside of the basement… if you decide to keep on living, of course.

You: What's that supposed to mean, ha?

Moderator: All in due time, boy, all in due time.

[TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE CONTENT UP AHEAD]

[I took a deep breath. If they were gonna do anything to her, this had to be the worse, right? It couldn't get any worse than this, could it? Wrong. It did get worse.

A masked slender figure with a ponytail and stiletto boots strode in front of the camera, wearing a… oh. Oh no. No. If it was ever possible for a female to rape another female, this was literally it. I couldn't… no. NO! I covered my eyes. I couldn't bear to watch as the masked woman fucked, no, pounded my girlfriend with that horrible excuse of a dick.

How dare they do such things to her? I buried my face in my hands. I heard sounds coming from the laptop but I could not bear to watch whatever was being done to my girlfriend. With shaking hands, I minimized that window and clicked back into the chat.]

You: WHY?! WHY THAT?!!!

Moderator_2: Learnt your lesson alr?

You: WHAT LESSON? WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO TEACH ME? HOW TO FUCK A WOMAN?

Moderator_2: Aww, you gettin' heated up? So are we, but maybe we should let Anne talk to you?

[You]: Anne? Who the hell is Anne? I DON'T WANT ANY ANNE! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU TWO!

Moderator_2: Why don't you introduce yourself, good Queen?

[Wait… no… Queen? Queen… like the Queen Anne Boleyn?]

ANNE: Why, good morrow, sir.

[I obstinately typed a set of ellipsis into the chat.]

ANNE: Sooth, you're pitiable, but your actions are not.

[You]: I'm not PITIABLE!

ANNE: Sadly, yes. Men like you are. Passing remarks such as the one you have made can cause such grievous harm unknown to the present, and yet nothing stops us from saying those remarks aloud.

[You]: Please, you must help me! Tell me where they took my girlfriend to!

ANNE: Your kind left us to fend for ourselves for a long time. If such "weak-bodied vermin" as us can survive, I'm sure you'll live.

[You]: My kind? Look, just help me out, ok? Like, tell me where they have her or something!

ANNE: Apologies, but I cannot do that. Death will touch you like a fallen feather and then float away, but shall come back for you later.

[You]: What does my dying have to do with my girlfriend?!

ANNE: O, hear me. Enow, enow, enow. Ask no more, the truth you shall not seek. Avoid truth, for it will destroy you. Pray, enow!

System: <Anne> is offline.

[I cursed inwardly and banged the table. Why was this so hard? Were they killing 2 birds with one stone, making me watch her suffer helplessly?

I teared up staring at the screen and wept uncontrollably as a huge wave of helplessness swept over my head, engulfing me in its embrace. At the same time, I could feel my cheeks heating up out of fury.

I wanted to end it all, but I couldn't just leave my girlfriend behind now, could I? I turned away, tears streaming down my cheeks. I looked around the basement and spied a dusty landline phone that I never really used, but hopefully still worked. I stumbled over to it, and dialed '666' on the phone, hoping and praying to be connected with an emergency operator.

Alas, all I heard in my ears was just the dreaded one-beep dial tone.

I still remember the fit of anger I had, and the rage stupor I had slid into. I roared and smashed the telephone into the wall, causing a dent in the plaster. I ripped the wire from its socket and hurled the table the telephone was on against the opposite wall, all the while hurling expletives at no one in particular, swearing by any entity's name I could think of.

I punched my laptop screen and banged my head against the wall repeatedly while crying out in anger and despair at being able to do nothing to help my girlfriend. Through the mist of rage, I could hear the pings my laptop gave off as messages from that godforsaken chatroom kept popping in, fuelling my rage.

I screamed at the top of my voice for my laptop to shut up, and of course, it didn't. As I ran out of energy, I slumped down against the wall and sobbed into my now bruised and scratched hands, tears racing down my cheeks in a continuous stream of hopelessness.]