I used to be a normal teenager with a Snapchat, you know, the app with the cute white ghost in the logo? Cute, my ass. After I got a message from an unknown person, that stupid ghost never left me alone. It emerged from my cell phone, and entered my very mind. It changed me forever. I tried deleting the app, but it wouldn't go away. It was like it was built-in. I slowly began to go insane; I had nightmares every night, I hallucinated, and I began to develop depression, bipolar disorder, and worst of all: schizophrenia. I would hear the ghost talk to me at school, I would see it on every screen, and I would dream about it every night. This spectre wasn't the cute, cartoony ghost that everyone knows and loves. It could move; slow and ominous, or fast and deadly. Its white pigment would darken to drab gray or pitch black, and its eyes...its eyes were like openings to hell itself. They might've been red, orange, blue, I couldn't tell. Its structure would always change, and I was always too scared to keep track. A word of advice, if you get a message on Snapchat from an unknown source that doesn't make any sense, just delete the entire app, so you don't have to suffer this wretched curse.
It all started when I updated my Snapchat story a few weeks ago. It was nothing special, just a picture of me, laying on my bed, and rolling my eyes, with a caption titled: "so boreddddd". In an effort to find something to entertain me, I checked my friend's stories. Most had pictures of them hanging with friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, or family. I felt a twinge of jealousy, but I remembered that I haven't asked anyone if they wanted to hang out with me. It was my own fault that I had nothing better to do.
My phone suddenly gave the sound of a new Snapchat message, but it sounded a little...distorted. I paid no mind to it, though; my phone was somewhat old, and has endured countless amounts of unintentional drops and slams. It wasn't uncommon for the speakers on it to malfunction for a short period. After noticing that the message was from a person who I didn't know, my curiosity overpowered me, and I opened the message.
I wish I hadn't...
I saw nothing except for the words: "Don't show anybody." There wasn't an attached picture like I expected, and after waiting for one, none came. There was just those three words. There wasn't even a displayed username, just a small dash symbol in the space where it would be. Confused, I gently pressed on the extremely short username, to get a closer look at the profile. There was nothing there; the screen was completely blank. I activated the task manager on my phone and turned Snapchat off. 'How did they get my Snapchat?' I thought to myself. I only shared my name with my close friends, and I asked them to not spread it around. They were good people, none of them would do that, so how did this happen? To help myself think, I went to YouTube and selected one of the many "Music for Studying" playlists. I had no idea who that was or why they sent that message, but I had a friend who might have known.
Her name was Chloe. She was the stereotypical teenage girl: always had a Starbucks cup in one hand, her iPhone with the sparkly case in the other, always wearing the latest trends, and so on. To others, she may have looked like a stuck-up gal, but was actually far from it once you got to know her. She was the master of Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, Instagram, you name it. She could deduce social messages into what the sender actually meant. She was a philosipher when it came to social media. If anyone could break down this message, it was her.
It was now Monday, and the final bell rang at the end of the school day. Students were eager to leave, as they poured out of the classrooms. Chloe was walking to the student parking lot, her blond, curly hair bouncing with each step of her tan high-heeled boots. I ran after her, shouting: "Hey, Chloe! Wait!" as I raced. She turned, her caramel leather purse swinging slightly. Her perfectly lined eyebrows were furrowed, but then raised in happiness when she realized it was me.
"Oh, hey!" She said as she opened her arms for a hug. I slowed my pace, and closed the rest of the short distance by walking to her. I hugged my friend shortly, and then let go.
"Need a ride?" She asked, jingling her car keys.
"No, I'm gonna walk." I responded. "But I do need your social media wisdom."
She chuckled. "Well, I'll certainly do what I can."
I pulled up the Snapchat message, and handed the phone to her.
"Do you know what this means?" I asked.
Her eyes went wide in pure horror. She started shake, tears immediately started to run down her face, smearing her makeup, and she breathed very quickly and shakily. She looked like she was having the biggest panic attack in her life.
"Chloe? What's wrong?" I asked, concerned and frightened.
She slowly lifted her head, and her eyes met mine. She was slowly shaking her head, as if in disbelief.
"No..." she croaked.
I was starting to become scared. My heart was beating in my throat, and my eyes were almost as wide as hers.
"I-I-I c...I ca..." she stuttered breathlessly. "I can't lose you too." She eventually worked.
I was panicking now. "What do you mean? What's going to happen?"
"You should've listened to him." Was all she said, before running to her white Lexus, getting inside, starting it up, and driving away.
Again, I was completely confused, but that was mostly overshadowed by my intense fear.
I was walking home, my earbuds were in my ears, and some electronic music was playing. My heart was still beating fast from the event I had witnessed about 15 minutes ago, but I tried my best to steer my mind away from it. The brief glimpse of a gray ghost in front of me did not help. I froze, and stared at the spot where I had seen it. I took my earbuds out, put them in my pocket, and rubbed my eyes. I had to just have been seeing things. Ghosts aren't real. I continued to walk, not putting my earbuds back in, when I saw the ghost again. It was a darker gray, and had bright red eyes, no pupils. Now I was scared. I sped-walked, until I saw the same ghost as the last time, then I ran the rest of the way.
I almost slammed the door when I ran in, my back plastered against it. I was breathing heavily, both from running, and from the fear. After staying at the door for a good 20 minutes, and after not seeing a hint of the ghost again, I reluctantly emerged from the door, and set my backpack by my computer. I took a seat in the office chair, and got started on my homework. I was able to get through the rest of that day without any problems. That night, however, was a different story. I was able to get to sleep, but I had a terrible nightmare. I can barely remember it now, but it went something like this:
I was walking to school one morning, and it was a beautiful day. It suddenly turned dark with clouds and started to rain, but I didn't get wet. I was confused, because I didn't have an umbrella, hood, nothing was covering me. But then again, the physics in my dreams were very weird. I kept walking, when the ghost, now pitch black and as tall as a two story house, appeared in front of me for a few split seconds. The intense screams it emitted were enough to knock me down in shock. When it disappeared, I heard different screams, much like those that would come from young children. They were far off in the distance, but I instinctively turned towards them. I didn't see anything except for the rain and dark fog. After turning my head back, the ghost was in front of me, red eyes, sharp teeth, and terrifying screams that never ended. I thought I saw static too, but I'm not sure.
I woke up a few hours before my alarm, which was set at 6:00. I sat up in my bed, and stayed like that until the clock went off. I got off of my mattress, and walked to the kitchen for breakfast. I prepared for the school day as usual, and walked to school as usual. The day was fine until 4th period. That was my U.S. History class. That day, we were watching a documentary about the Holocaust. I don't remember the name. I continued to take notes as instructed, when I thought I saw that damn ghost on the screen, and sure enough, I did. It glitched on and off of the screen, and nobody else seemed to see it. The ghost stared at me, with its red eyes and sharp teeth.
The ghost laughed, before uttering: "Your foolishness kills, Lily Blossom. Ignorance would have let them live. Now, you will lose EVERYONE YOU LOVE!"
I screamed and started to cry. We haven't reached the disturbing part of the movie yet, so obviously, everyone around me was concerned. I tried my best to calm myself down, but I kept seeing the ghost on the screen. It smiled at me, finding amusement in my suffering. I cried and cried, until a girl by the name of High Winds helped me get to the counselor's office. Her touch felt nice on my shoulder, but I was too upset to thank her. When we got there, Nurse Redheart took care of me. Or at least tried to...
"What's wrong, sweetie?" She said, trying to calm me down. I have to admit, her voice was calming to me. It was sweet, and sort of high-pitched.
"I s-s-saw a ghost!" I stuttered.
"What did this ghost look like?" She asked, seeming to not be bothered by what I had just said.
"It was...pitch black, red eyes, sharp teeth, and it stared at me. I saw that same ghost in my nightmare last night."
"Tell me about your nightmare."
I proceeded to tell her about my dream, not leaving out any details. She seemed a little shocked, but pressed on to find a solution.
"When did all of this start?" She said softly.
I thought for a moment. "I guess it started 3 days ago, on Saturday. I got this weird Snapchat message that said "Don't show anybody". I figured it was just a message meant for someone else, but no pictures were attached to it. There wasn't even a username on the screen. Yesterday, as I was walking home, I saw the ghost pop up in front of me now and then, each time looking more threatening. I didn't have any more problems that day, but I had that nightmare last night. And...the rest you know."
Nurse Redheart slowly nodded her head, taking in every word I uttered.
"Why don't you just rest here for a while, sweetie?"
I decided to take her advice: lay back, and try to relax. I found it surprisingly easy to close my eyes and drift off into a peaceful sleep. My mind seemed to create pictures of a flowing haze. Blurs of lavender, magenta, and other pastel colors were slowly transforming, and it was the most relaxing sight I had ever seen. To this day, I don't know how I was able to picture something so relaxing. I was awakened by my phone giving a small "ding". I lifted the screen up, to see that I had gotten a text from Chloe. I opened it, and saw that she sent me a very lengthy message.
"Lily, I am afraid that you have been cursed. That Snapchat message isn't just a message sent to the wrong person. It is an invitation to a life of insanity, depression, and eventual death. I have seen it too many times before. My closest friends have received the same message over Snapchat, and they were obviously curious. They asked me what it meant, but I had no idea at the time. All three of them eventually committed suicide. That's how it all works; someone gets the strange message, they ask about it, then...they die. The person can't ignore it. My friends said in their notes that they were having intense nightmares that would haunt them in the day and night. That ghost...it's evil! I tried telling people about it, but nobody would listen to me. So, I tried my best to just forget about Snapchat completely. I deleted the app, and repressed the memories. Those thoughts could only be bottled up for so long...I cannot go on knowing that I am going to be responsible for your death too. Don't try to save me, I was going to die sooner or later. That's how it works."
My heart was beating in my throat once again, and my legs seemed to carry my body out of the counseling center on their own. I ran all the way to Chloe's house, which was a good 30 minute walk away. Now that I look back on it, there was no way I could've saved her. But at that moment, I wanted to believe that there was a slim chance. I busted down the front door to her house, my adrenaline giving me strength. I searched the living room, kitchen, all the bathrooms, but she was nowhere to be seen...until I went up to her bedroom. My hand shook wildly as I twisted the gold doorknob and pushed the door open.
I was completely stupefied at the sight. There she was, on the floor, blood pouring out, like she had infinite gallons of it in her body. There was a knife in her hand, and a huge vertical slash in her lower torso. Her stomach and both of her intestines were laid out, and her liver was peeking from her ribcage. Her face was mostly relaxed, but I could still see a hint of terror in her complexion. It also looked like some patches of hair were ripped out of her scalp. Her phone was on her bed, the screen turned off. My own stomach contracted, and I felt a bunch of pressure in my chest and throat. I vomited on the floor, right next to Chloe's dead body, before slowly stepping out of the bedroom and bolting out of the house. I ran down the street to my own home, tears almost completely blurring my vision. It was raining fairly hard, but I paid no mind to it. How could I? I just saw the dead body of my best friend. I came close to slipping on the asphalt a few times, before I finally fell. I didn't feel pain, until I saw that my hands were covered in blood and small bits of the asphalt. I also felt the burning pain on my face and knees, and assumed that they have accumulated some lacerations as well. I pulled myself back up, and limped the rest of the way home.
I went through the front door, and made my way to the bathroom, crying the whole way. My knees, head, and hands hurt, but my heart was in the most pain. I couldn't stop visualizing Chloe's corpse, organs, and blood. I took off my drenched clothes, and stepped into the shower. I turned the water on to my preferred temperature, and washed the blood and rainwater off. It stung, like I expected, but I didn't care. After I was done cleaning myself up and putting some bandages on my wounds, I decided to contact my family about this. I needed someone to turn to in this dark time. I grabbed my cell phone, and dialed the appropriate numbers.
I heard a knock on the door within the same hour, and sure enough, my entire immediate family was on the front porch, waiting for me to let them in. They all had worried expressions, as my mother hugged me tightly.
"...and that's the story." I had finished explaining the recent event to my family. they were seated in a circle with me, some on the couch, one on the chair, and the rest on the floor. I was in tears by the end. I missed Chloe so much, and I still couldn't believe that she was dead.
"We will stay as long as you need us. We're here for you, honey." My dad said gently, putting a hand on my shoulder. I smiled slightly; I appreciated my family being such kind, supporting people.
"Thank you." I sniffled. I hugged them once more, before fixing up dinner for everyone, and going to bed.
The nightmare that night was about my entire family being murdered and dissected while I was tied down and forced to watch. Gruesome, yes? I woke up that morning screaming. I took a moment to catch my breath, but I couldn't help but notice that nobody responded to my noises of terror. I was confused, and a little frightened. I slowly got out of bed, still shaken up from the bad dream, and headed downstairs to the living room. I screamed bloody murder when I saw the scene; everybody was dead. My mother was cut open, with her heart stuffed in her mouth like a turkey with an apple on Thanksgiving. My dad's arms and legs were detached from his body, but still close by. My older brother's intestines were around his neck tightly, and his stomach was laying on the floor, relaxed. I wanted to rip my hair out, but all I could do was run. I ran out the door, into the dark. It was still early in the morning, about 5:00 if I remember correctly. I was crying loudly, not caring if I disturbed anybody from their slumber. I was stopped in the middle of the road by a big, black, ghost. It had terrifying eyes and teeth, and looked as though it was begging to kill me, but holding back. I wanted to scream, but all that came out was a strained croak. I was still crying successfully.
"What are you? What do you want from me!?" I screamed. The ghost just laughed at me.
"Oh, Lily Blossom, you have proven to be quite the interesting host. It has been quite amusing."
"That doesn't answer my question. What are you!?"
"Boy, for such a nice girl, you've got the fangs of a cobra. Well, to answer your question, isn't it obvious? I'm a ghost!" It cackled at me, which both infuriated and scared me. "I am a type of spectre that feeds off of mortal's suffering. It's what sustains us and keeps us alive, so to speak. But sometimes, we toy with people's minds when we're in need of entertainment. It can get quite boring in the Void, you know."
"But why me?"
"Well, I have been looking for a challenge. I have seen how smart you are, and how well you do in school. With how logical you are, it would be difficult to derail you. Or so I thought. You should've seen the look on your face when you saw your dead friend and family! Priceless! A true work of art caused by a ghost's charm. We have a natural talent of making people go insane."
My eyes went wide. "Y...you killed them?" I squeaked.
"Well, they held their tools of death and sliced their tender guts open. All I did was encourage them. I told them: 'The knife will make it all better. Join me, in the Void. Death is so much more relaxing.' You mortals do say when someone dies that 'they're at peace now', correct?"
My mind was spinning. I didn't want to believe a word that it was saying, but it was the only thing that made sense in my life, now.
"No." I stated. "No, no, this can't be the answer!"
"Oh, but it is. Join me, Lily Blossom, and you will be at peace." With that statement, a kitchen knife very similar to the one used to kill Chloe, appeared in front of me. It came out of thin air. I picked it up, my entire being shaking. I looked back and forth between the knife, and the ghost, who was now a calm, light gray. It seemed very content with what it had achieved. I still couldn't bring myself to do it.
"Do you need help?" It asked me.
I didn't answer, for before I could, the knife was plunged down my throat by my own hand. It wasn't me that was doing it though; the ghost now had control of my body. It was brutally painful for the knife to stretch and slice the inside of my esophagus, but I couldn't scream. All that came out was a bunch of gurgles, as the blood started to pool in my lungs when I tried to breathe. I eventually fell to the ground, and my vision became blurred. My eyelids finally shut, and I...was gone. The Snapchat ghost is an evil creature. Spread the word so that nobody else has to suffer this curse.
