Tonight is the night we die

Chapter Fourty-Three

.TW: mention of torture and suicide.

11 years ago

I had just turned 17. The plan was to move to my own place as soon as 18 knocked at the door. I dreamed of that freedom to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. No more parents on my back. Well, they were not on my back at all. My teenage years were far from the crazy nights out and the illegal drinking like other people my age did. I was a loner. Always inside. So to me, to live alone meant spending how much time I wanted on my computer without receiving remarks from my parents.

My everyday life was simple. I struggled to get out of bed with my three hours of sleep which dug under my eyes. I would run to my high school with a buttered toast and make it right before the bell. I would sit at the back of the classroom and barely listen to what was happening there. I was ahead of all the courses and had good grades, so the teachers would let me in my corner. I had "friends"; however, it felt more like we were colleagues. We talked only in the high school zone, and the only subject was the classes and teachers, things related to our "work" life, and if we ever spotted each other outside of that context, it was weird. Most times, even if we made eye contact, we would ignore each other to save ourselves from an uncomfortable situation.

I had one friend. An online friend. We had been talking for almost a year. He lived in the south of the country. We were too far away from each other. It was the best excuse not to meet because we were too awkward. But we had our cameras on and talked directly to each other. Communicating with people was always easier when a screen separated us.

His name was Lucas. We liked to spend time on forums and dig on the Internet. Our mission was to go as deep as possible. I showed him some of my hacking skills. In exchange, he taught me all about fake IDs, how to fake your own death and disappear, and how to run a shady but lucrative business. Lucas spent hours watching movies about those subjects and eventually got tired of them. He decided to see for himself if it was that simple. Surprised by his research, he told me how easy it was to disappear. Then Lucas had an obsession with the tv show Man Vs. Wild, so he informed me about survival if I happened to be lost in the desert, which was very unlikely. But he insisted.

And so we jumped from the tip of the iceberg. We realized we had lost our way out only once we were too far gone. It was too profound. It wasbeyond us. We were two teenagers with too much time on their hands, a superhero complex, and no understanding whatsoever of actions and their consequences.

Somehow, we entered the dark web after a long way down a rabbit hole. It was darker than we expected. A morbid curiosity pushed us further into our research. It started "lightly" with weird market places that sold everything, even the most improbable things. Then it was organs on sale, then humans, living or dead. Women. Children. It was not fun anymore. The atmosphere dropped to a hundred shades colder, and we were quiet in front of our computers as we scrolled down and dived even further, despite the visible danger. Our inquisitiveness got the best of us. We wanted to see how ghastly it could get.

"Red room... I've heard about it in a Youtube video. The guy said it was all fake and just actors and shit," Lucas said as we came across a website advertising a live event that would take place in a few hours.

You could pick whom you wanted to watch, the age, the ethnicity. Then it was about bidding. Once the live stream started, you had to give as much money as possible to fulfill your wish. In exchange, they would get your money and do the torture you chose to the victim you previously picked.

"We should come back later," I suggested. I shouldn't have. But I wanted to have confirmation if it was real or not. Lucas agreed.

The chat was active. Only five people could make demands; the others were "watchers." We decided to enter a room with a "46-year-old male"; it was the less popular one, and our connexion was not good enough to join the other rooms. We waited in an anxiously powered silence until it began.