The Game Developers Son

Chapter 4

Damien's POV

My Dad closed the curtains, flicked the lights off, and sat down next to me again. I took a deep breath and clicked onto the 'play' button. There was a pause of a black screen before I saw that the character that I was playing as was standing in a hallway. I instantly felt scared. What the hell was going on? What type of game was this? I spun my character around, looking at my surroundings. Above me was a swinging lampshade that made a squeaking sound. Behind me was just plain white wall that blended in with the rest of the hallway. There was no door on it or anything. There was no door around it either. It was just...a dead end. Creepy. I moved my character so that it was facing forward again and started to move by using the WASD keys. As I could only walk forward, I pressed down on the 'W' key, stopping every few seconds to turn side to side by using the 'A' and 'D' keys. Not much was happening at the moment. Every few seconds, there would be the sound of wind, but that was just about it. Surely there was something else to this game, right? Surely you did more than just walk forward! Despite the lack of gameplay, something still made me feel tense. I couldn't relax while playing this. It felt like it was haunted or something. I held onto the mouse tighter, waiting to rapidly click if something were to go wrong. I could feel the blood throbbing rapidly through my veins and arteries. Small drops of sweat rolled down my face as I felt my body becoming warm.

There was a sudden, slightly disorientated giggle coming from the computer. My Dad, who still happened to be sitting next to me, picked up a pair of headphones from off his desk and slid them on top of my head. The foam area where the sound came out from pressed against my ears, only making me feel even more nervous. It was only now I realised just how loud this game was starting to get. There was a constant static in the background, making my ears ring. The wind that I could previously hear suddenly became much louder. The giggling felt as if it was right behind me. Shaking, I turned my character around. An image of a child flashed up onto my screen. Their dark, blonde hair hung limply around their face, their glasses were smashed, and their sharp, green eyes felt as if they were piercing into my soul. The loud yell that came along with, what I guess I could call, the jumpscare made me flinch backwards...A little too far. Fear rushed through my body as my chair toppled backwards, racing straight towards the hard, wood floor. I scream, almost as loud as the scare, as anxiety started to shoot through me like a bullet. Somehow, my Dad managed to grab the top of the chair and pull me back up before I hit the floor. When all four legs were back onto the floor again, I went to reach for the keyboard and mouse when I felt the headphones being pulled off, and watched the screen go back to the desktop home screen. I glanced over at my Dad, who was quickly winding the cord around the headphones before placing them back onto the desk and pulling me onto his lap. It was only then I realised just how much I was shaking.

"I'm sorry, Damien. I should've told you there were going to be jumpscares." I felt embarrassed. Something was telling me that my anxiety was stupid, and that I was acting stupid, despite the fact that my entire body shook like mad, I felt like I was going to throw up, and I had a feeling that my bladder muscles were about to give in. It was a good thing it didn't, I guess. That wouldn't be all that comfortable. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, trying to force the embarrassment, as well as the feelings of shame, away from my body.

"I'm fine, Dad. I'm fine!" I tried to pull away from him, yet his grip was like a vice. He wasn't going to let me go. I felt tears rising up, and start to prick my eyes. "I-I swear I'm fine...I'm fine Dad!" I knew what I was saying was a lie. I wasn't fine. My anxiety was slowly killing me from the inside out. "T-The jumpscare was just good, that's all. It scared me...That what makes a jumpscare good, Dad!" He ran his fingers through my hair, messing it up even more than it already was, before pressing a kiss against my forehead. My face instantly turned a bright shade of red. I closed my eyes, and pulled my head away from his face. A quiet chuckle came out of his mouth. "Please don't kiss me...I hate it." Another quiet laugh. He kept on running his hands through my hair, as well as rubbing my back alongside it. For some reason, his actions were starting to calm me down.