Ensnaring Darkness

VIII. In which he becomes a Beta Tester

The throbbing ache in his head and the soreness of his body greeted Julien early in the morning. A groan escaped his dry lips as he squinted his blue eyes against the extremely bright light in the room.

When he finally managed to open his eyes fully, the view of his living room ceiling greeted him. The light filtered through the open windows, casting the warm rays of the sun.

He groaned softly and pushed himself off the cold, tiled floor. How did he even manage to get home last night? He couldn't remember anything at all.

He almost crawled his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. The cool and refreshing feeling slightly eased the stinging pain in his head. He scowled as he saw his pale and distraught face reflected against the glass window.

What was he even thinking of getting wasted last night? He must've troubled the bar employees! Just thinking about it, made him cringe.

After a quick shower, his thoughts were now clear and he checked the things he carried on himself last night to be sure he didn't lose anything. His wallet was untouched but the screen of his cellphone had a ghastly-looking crack.

He tried to power it on a couple of times but couldn't. With rising trepidation, he plugged in the charger hoping it would still work. Relief washed over him as the screen finally lit up.

A notification window popped up with a sharp ping in the middle of the dark screen.

"Dark Love: Beta Version" has finished installing. The app will start in 3, 2, 1..."

The notification window vanished, and a soft, slow music started to play. Words in red color flashed on the screen.

Do you want to be loved?

Do you want to be desired?

Do you want your desires fulfilled?

The three questions flashed in a succeeding manner and finally fade out to spindly silver letters forming the words: Dark Love.

Was this some kind of horror game? It asked questions about love yet the graphics were too dark and gloomy it sent his heart racing. He unconsciously moved the phone away from him, afraid that a scary picture might suddenly popped up.

Welcome to Dark Love Julien! Register the name of the person you desire.

Note: You won't be able to change the name once you entered it. Think carefully before submitting it.

Julien was slightly stunned of the contents but more so that the app used his name, he couldn't remember registering for an account at all. Hell, he couldn't remember installing it in the first place! Was it done by someone else last night?

An unplaced memory of himself scanning a red barcode flashed in his mind as if to taunt him more. Who gave him this thing?

A simple form with a drop-down menu and text boxes for name and age was displayed on the screen.

He hesitantly clicked on the menu and saw odd choices ranging from Human, Vampire, Werewolf, Demon, Fallen Angel and many more supernatural beings.

At first, Julien was nervous thinking it was an app phishing for information but now he's mostly assured that it was a game. With a snort, he clicked the exit button but wasn't able to exit the app. He selected Human choice instead. Oddly the only clickable choices are Humans and Demons.

Under the name, without much thought, he typed Knox's name. He pressed enter and a loading bar appeared with the words SEARCHING HUMAN DATABASE. After a minute the loading bar turned green in color and the notification read: SUCCESSFUL. View the Daily Missions?

He pressed Yes and the display changed.

Three notes were displayed under the Daily Missions tab. The first note had the words, Greet Knox every time you see him! Reward: 100 Dark desires

The second note says, Smile at him with love! Reward: 100 Dark desires

And the third note says, Hold his gaze for more than ten seconds! Reward: 100 Dark desires

He realized Dark desires were a token or the in-game currency.

Slightly amused, Julien read more of the app in the Instructions tab. A bad feeling rose in his heart as he read each instruction.

1. Complete the Daily mission. A one week streak will give you one spin of the Erotic roulette!

2. Dark desires can be exchanged in the app store! You can purchase dark desires (100 Dark desires = $100)

3. Quick(ie) missions are special missions given within a time limit. Failure to complete a Quick(ie) mission can result in unfavorable circumstances between you and your love!

4. Hard(core) missions are rare missions given with a 100% chance to get you closer to your love! Failure to complete the mission after acceptance will result in a love lost forever.

5. This is a BETA version and will cease to run in 30 days.

6. Never transfer the app to another. DO NOT attempt to uninstall or hellhounds will pay you a visit.

7. Picking a race different from yours entails serious repercussions. Please be prepared for death.

Why would this silly app talk about death? Spooked at the contents Julien was about to exit and uninstall the app, completely disregarding the 6th instruction when a notification suddenly popped up.

"Congratulations! As the first Beta tester, you earn one spin in the Erotic Roulette!"