The Death Game

Chapter 1

Arthur (Chapter 1)

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP- SLAM! The alarm clock fell with a deafening CLANK! I pulled the bed sheets over my head and tried to go back to sleep. 2 minutes...3 minutes...4...5...Ugh, fine. I can't ever go back to sleep once my alarm wakes me up. I sighed and got out of bed. Another day. Great. Let's see what happens. Hopefully nothing. I went downstairs and opened the cabinet to get myself something to eat. I found two slices of bread and put them both in the toaster. I heard a door coming from upstairs open. "Arthur, is that you?" Mother asked. "Yes, Mother, I'm down here," I answered while not taking my eyes off the toaster. Soon the bread came out of the toaster and I caught it. When I turned around, Mother was already seated on the table, helping herself to some food. I sat down on the chair across from her and we ate our food in silence. "So...have you managed to find a job yet?" Mother asked, breaking the silence. I shook my head, not wanting to talk. Mother suddenly leaned in and put an arm on my shoulder. "Arthur, I know things have been hard for you with your father dead. But we must move on." I shook her arm off. "Mother, I'm 20. I can handle things on my own. I am not upset because of Dad's death. His death is what's best for us. Him dead is better than him alive. The only reason why I am living with you in the first place is because you need emotional comfort. Not me." I finished my toast and stood up from my chair. As I was exiting the front door, I could hear Mother sniffling. She's always crying whenever I mention Dad. But it was true. Dad's death is for the best. She knew what he was like and what would happen if he's still here. There was one question still lingering in my mind that kept on coming back without an answer. Why does she keep on defending him after everything he's done to us both? It is unlike Mother to defend someone, let alone her overly abusive monster of a husband. Maybe I'll find out why she always defends him. Maybe I won't. Right now I have to work on finding a job. I walked around the neighborhood to find some Help Wanted posters, but didn't find a single one. Where are these damn posters? Why can't I find a single one?! Growing frustrated, I was about to give up when something caught my eye. It was a poster that said Help Wanted on the top. But there was something about this poster that was different from the other Help Wanted job application posters. It has a sort of suspicious vibe to it. Some might describe it as strange. Frightening, maybe. But I didn't care. I snatched the poster off of the pole that it was stuck to and read it.

Help Wanted

Need cash and need it quick? Sign the job application on our website and you'll earn $1,000 for every work hour you put in! It's easy to earn it too! All you have to do is type things on a computer and you get money after every hour! What are you waiting for? Sign now! You might say that this fabulous job is a once in a lifetime or something to DIE for! Hurry and sign now! On our website: www.thisjobistodiefor.com.

Not sure if it's the fact that whoever is disputing these posters claim to pay their workers $1,000 dollars for every work hour or if it's the word "die" highlighted crimson red that seems off. Whoever wrote these posters don't seem to know how to do office work even though this is a job application for an office work job. I am getting the feeling that there's something off about this "job application". I don't know what it is though, it just seems strange. Why does it keep on saying the word "die" all the time? Should I even go to the website and sign it?...I guess I might as well. I mean, what do I have to lose? I took the advertisement with me with a mixed feeling of skepticism and wondering how much money I can receive from my new job.

At Home...

I typed the website from the poster on my computer. I am actually one of those people who still live in their mother's basement. So when I say "my room" I actually mean "my Mother's basement". But that might change. If the job that I am applying for is even real. The website took me to a horrific page that has the words type your name here to sign to apply for a job so good that it's to die for! in big, red, terrifying letters. But I wasn't about to chicken out on a sweet job opportunity. I typed my name in the box (Arthur Williams Dicksen). Once I hesitantly pressed ENTER, a grotesque image of a dying corpse of a human crying blood stared at me with the bloody words help me on it. Then it quickly disappeared as fast as it appeared. Startled, I fell out of my chair. SMASH! What the hell was that image?! What the hell did I just see?! "Arthur? Arthur, are you okay?" Mother yelled. I could hear her footsteps running frantically from the stairs. "Yes, Mother, I am okay. There's no need for you to come into my room," I said as I stood up and quickly locked the door. Thank goodness I didn't tell her about the new job I applied for. One thing's for sure, there's something strange about this new job. I am no detective, but judging by that...thing that I saw, there's definitely something going on. I don't know what it is, but I want to find out. I can't just give this to the police. There's not enough evidence and I don't know who gave out these applications. So I guess I have to do some investigating by myself. I don't want to get anyone else involved. No one. Not even Mother. Only me.