Over twenty of my classmates had gone missing or were found horribly murdered, before I had even decided to do what I did. It had been a trend for weeks, and had become as popular as the Ice Bucket challenge, taking high schools by storm to the point of where I couldn't go a single day without hearing about someone taking the "haunted survey" that had appeared on a website known as Equestria Daily. It didn't matter if you were a brony or not, seeing for some stupid reason, young adults seemed to get a thrill out of doing the latest trends.
It was all over the news; "young high school student disappears without a trace" or "young high school student found dead in their bedroom,"yet everybody wanted to do it for a thrill. It's like they were just asking for a death wish, and sadly that was the case with most of the found victims. A large number of them were suicidal classmates of mine that I had caught slashing their wrists or overdosing in the boys bathroom multiple times. Most got their wish and it quickly became an epidemic among my high school and many others within my area. I don't know why, but the local authorities seemed to not even care, and just brushed the whole issue aside like it was a fluke.
After so long, I had gotten fed up with this epidemic, seeing my only friends had gone missing as well, becoming victims of the survey as well. At the time, I was not a believer of things such as "haunted surveys" and found it more stupid than anything that almost everybody had decided to risk their life for a thrill and good scare. This new trend had become the "Bloody Mary dare" of the 21st century, and had grown to an uncontrollable rate. Every teen or young adult had wanted to take the "haunted survey" on Equestria Daily. Long story short, they were never seen again.
On October 31, 2016, the dare was even livestreamed on YouTube by a YouTuber named "Spawn2469," with over 400 watchers. Facecam was added to show the reactions, but let's just say that the stream was cut short when they reached question three, but resumed when the survey ended and all that was left was a horribly murdered corpse of the YouTuber. Most of the watchers thought that it was just special effects to add more of a scare, seeing it was Halloween. However, when the stream resumed, a large number of the watchers managed to hear a very mild whisper saying "are you enjoying the show?"
That was enough for some to leave in fear, but some just took it as a prank and the "haunted survey" continued to spread across the world like a fucking virus. Enough was enough, and I said to myself that I could shut this trend down, seeing at the time I was also a hacker. You're probably thinking, "oh, he's just one of those hackers that could do the most simplistic shit that ANY beginning first rank hacker could do." No, I was a high end hacker, able to break through some of the hardest codes and scripts of even the most secure sites. All I would have to do is hack this supposed "haunted link" and use a termination code to completely destroy the survey altogether. It's kinda like creating a virus, only much more effective and restricted.
You'd think I worked for the government with this kind of knowledge, but nope, I had been around computers for a LONG time, and had learned much about how websites work and their properties. All a website is composed of, is commands, codes, and some form of security; some security being easy to pass, while some others like Google being heavily secure and there being multiple codes to break through to even get to the firewall. To terminate a site like Google would take someone of my level probably weeks, but for sites such as Equestria Daily, it wouldn't take any longer than two hours or shorter.
My mind was set, so on February 24, 2017, at 1:23 A.M I gathered the needed requirements, and logged onto my desktop. I wasted no time in going to Equestria Daily, which took no time, seeing my desktop was built for high performance. However, as soon as I got to the site, I was immediately lost on where to even go next, seeing I wasn't even a fan of My Little Pony. All I knew about the topic was that it was composed of colorful horses who spread the magic of friendship across their land, and the only way I knew that much was because one of my now-missing friends was a brony. I browsed around the website for a little bit, going to the most likely places that a "haunted survey" would be located. I found nothing.
I wasn't going to give up there, seeing I knew "ways" of finding possibly hidden links. This was where my hacking skills came into play, as I proceeded to opening up the page script and scrolling through, searching for the survey link, but still found nothing. This was common, so I decided to just look at one of the countless videos on YouTube of young adults and teens taking the survey as a guide, and was immediately confused when I saw that it was under a tab I had already checked prior to watching the video.
I checked again just to be sure, and sure thing, nothing was there, and I didn't even resort to thinking that the link had been deleted, because I knew for a fact it wasn't. That day at school, all that the talk was about in the hallways was "the haunted survey" and just how chilling and thrilling it was. I overlooked the video again, and realized something strange, the URL of the site was different from the one that I had in my URL bar. Right then, I should've backed out and realized that I was stepping into boundaries that were beyond my limits, but I wasn't stopping until that link was gone for good.
Without a hint of any suspicion as to why the links were different, I backspaced the current URL and typed the URL in the video into my URL bar, and hit my "enter" key on my keyboard. It didn't take even a second for the screen to come up with the "THIS PAGE DOES NOT EXIST" result, immediately confusing me. It existed in the video, so why didn't it exist now? The video was only a day old, so age was not an issue, so what was I doing wrong? I decided to watch more additional videos of the same topic to see if there was any difference in them compared to the first one I watched.
There was indeed something strange, and even sent a chill down my spine once I realized it; all the links to the page where the link to the survey was located on Equestria Daily in each individual video were different. In that moment, I was immediately confused, and should've backed out, but my persistence was still stronger. I came up with a solution, considering how big the trend was. Perhaps the link had been shared to multiple pages, but it still didn't make any fucking sense that these pages didn't exist. I had tried every link, and every single one had the same result; THIS PAGE DOES NOT EXIST.
Perhaps the government had decided to actually do something, and the pages were shutdown? Nope, not even that was possible, because the page wouldn't come up with "THIS PAGE DOES NOT EXIST" as the result. It would come up with an official government seal, stating that it had been shutdown due to a certain reason that violated federal law. Nothing was making sense, and being as stubborn as I was, tried to find a solution. I even ran a scan on the page scripts with the result "THIS PAGE DOES NOT EXIST" to make sure that the page itself might've been hidden. In the end, the page scripts were natural, so how the hell did you actually get to the page with the survey link?!
Stumped, I had no choice but to seek help from those who knew how to get the link, so I texted a fellow classmate who I knew would know more about this trend than me. They had wanted to try the survey themselves, but were too scared to. Bless their soul they never went near it. Immediately, they questioned why I had interest, and I lied, telling them that I was dared to do it. It turned out that there was a logical reason the links were different in the videos I watched; you didn't just simply access the link through Equestria Daily. You had to go through an additional source, where it would give you a custom code that you add onto the end of the link on the Equestria Daily page, and it would redirect you to a page with the link visible.
The additional source seemed like a very shady way of accessing a link, but my persistence made me blind to my suspicions that this was clearly a bad idea. Stupidly, I asked for the link to the additional source, and my classmate sent it. I immediately recognized the link as a link you normally use in the browser used to browse the dark net. That made me swallow a little, seeing while I was no stranger to the dark net, I had left the days of browsing those areas of the internet behind long ago. Right there, I felt as if something was off, and I conflicted continuing any further.
After minutes of contemplation, I made probably the worst mistake of my life, proceeding to downloading the browser. Once it was downloaded, I immediately opened it, and with much caution, pasted the link my classmate had given me into the URL bar. The home page redirected me to a pitch black page, where what seemed like a closed briefcase manifested from the shadows. Above the briefcase, the words "do you wish to sell your soul to the doctor" manifested shortly after in blood red text.
Those words made me stop for a second, but foolishly, I clicked the "yes" option, causing the briefcase to open, where yet another disturbing set of words were revealed on the top half of the open briefcase. The words "welcome to the family, here's your ticket" were written out in what seemed like blood, and just below was the custom code. Not thinking straight, I copied the code, returned to Equestria Daily, went to the URL bar, pasted the code onto the end of the page URL, and hit my enter key. Immediately, I was redirected to basically a copy of the previous page, only this time, the survey link was visible.
Now, this was where I had to be careful, when in all reality, I should've just closed down everything and walked away, forgetting this ever happened. It was too late, as I clicked the link, and was redirected to the survey screen. I didn't bother reading anything, and quickly opened up the page script to what seemed like one of the most simple page scripts I've ever seen. It was mainly text coding with redirect commands whenever an answer was given, which didn't surprise me, seeing in all reality, that's what this survey was, or was it?
Just being on the page gave me the chills, knowing that this survey was the cause of many disappearances and deaths of my fellow friends and classmates, but I was more than determined to bring this trend to an end. Using simple coding, I easily got past the script and within five minutes passed each code on the page. Next came the firewall, which was probably going to be my biggest challenge, but strangely, it was actually very simple to pass using a termination command. The security seemed like it was made by an amateur, being so easy to break and hack into. Now, I controlled the survey, and didn't plan to spare it any mercy.
Without any hesitation, I imported the same termination code into the website's page script, and with a simple pound to my enter key, the page closed back to Equestria Daily. To double check if the page was terminated successfully, I clicked the link again, only for the result to be "ERROR 404: PAGE NOT FOUND" and nothing more. Exactly what I want to see, but this wasn't the only page that I needed to terminate, and now understood why the page could've never simply been terminated. The links were all different, generated by the additional website.
I returned to the page where the briefcase remained open with the code inside, and repeated the same process as I had with the survey page. It only took me ten minutes, before this page met the same fate as the one it was linked to externally, closing back to the home page. I re-entered the link once again, just to make sure, and became shocked at the result. The page was the same; pitch-black with that same briefcase, only something was different. The letters above the briefcase no longer read "do you wish to sell your soul to the doctor,"now they read "you sold your soul. You are one of us now."
I trembled, reading the words over and over. I had clearly terminated the site, and was not going to be scared away so easily. Maybe I had typed something wrong? Maybe I had made a mistake? If only that were the case. To be sure, I repeated the process, opening the page script, and proceeding to breaking through the script, codes, and firewall. I even made sure I typed everything right, before once again importing the termination code, and hitting enter. Once again, the page closed back to the home screen of the browser, and to be sure, I entered the URL to the site, and once again, was completely dumbfounded by what I saw.
The site was still there, still running, even after I had terminated it twice. Just as I was about to try terminating it again, I noticed that the site had changed; instead of a briefcase appearing, a closed door appeared in place. The words "welcome home" appeared next, causing fear to creep down my spine, and my heart to skip a beat. This had to be a joke, and my friend gave me that link just to mess with me, right? That had to be it. This could not be possible. All my hopes dropped, as I saw a chat window pop up in the corner of the screen.
Hello, Howard, thank you for selling your soul! Please enter! Your family and friends await your arrival!
I didn't respond, just attempted to get the fuck out of there while I still could, but no matter how many times I clicked the "X" in the right upper corner of the browser window, I couldn't get out. Panicking, I proceeded to attempting a force close on the browser, opening the page script again and doing what I had to do to get out. I entered the command to force close the browser, but nothing happened. Fear and panic immediately took hold, as I resorted to my last option, and rushed to unplug the power plug from the wall. With one tug, the power plug was pulled, but the computer remained on, and a plague of pure fear took hold on my mind.
I had tried everything, but I was trapped. I rushed to find a way out of this, but out my struggles, another message was sent.
The only way out is to go home, Howard! The answers you seek on where your friends and classmates disappeared to lie just beyond this door! They are all waiting! Join us, Howard! Join us!
I didn't believe a word this anonymous user was saying, and listening to my instincts, stood up from the computer chair, and ran to my door. I had to get out, just had to get out! I had to run as fast I possibly could from here, get help, and attempt to forget this! GET OUT was all my mind was telling me, and just as I was about to turn the door handle, I stopped. With one glance back at the the computer screen, I saw that the door on the screen was an exact copy of the door I now stood before. From the speakers of the computer came the endless notification sounds, all saying the same thing over and over; Join us!
I now knew if I opened that door, I would enter the "home" this anonymous user was speaking of. I wasn't going to become a victim, and become a part of what I knew was now a trap. I looked around for any other exit, and quickly saw the window. Without hesitation, I quickly ran to the window, opening it with no struggles, while behind me my phone rang. I wasn't taking any chances, and crawled through the opening, falling into the shrubs my dad had planted years ago. From the bedroom, I swore I could hear muffled voices from the computer and cell phone yelling those two words over and over.
I recognized some of them as my friend's voices, but I didn't listen and darted down the street as fast as my legs could go. It was cold, but I didn't care, as I darted to the nearest police station. Now, of course I didn't tell the police the truth, they would've thought I was fucking crazy, nor did they fucking care. They had gotten so used to teens coming into the station and calling them with bizarre stories about the survey, so I'm sure a story about a computer being controlled by some anonymous user on the dark net would concern them at all.
Eventually I had to return home, but I never entered, and to keep my family and I safe, burned the house to the ground. I was never taking a chance in entering that house ever again, not knowing if the computer was still on, that user was still there waiting for me to return, so they could take me "home." I have never told my parents of that night, nor the true reasoning of why I burned the house down. After I confessed to burning down the house, I was put in my local detention center, up until I was too old to be considered a juvenile. I never cared that I was put into a detention center, and found it more a relief.
No computers or phones were allowed, so I didn't have to worry about going "home." At least that's what I thought, until I received an unexpected visit from some doctor named "Dr. Malcintom." At first, I thought he was just my regular therapist, up until he stated something that made my blood run cold.
"You will never escape, Howard. You will return home someday, and join the family you gave your soul for. We are still waiting, and no matter how long it takes, we will be waiting for you on the other side of the door. Come home soon, Howard."
That was when I knew, all along when I thought that I had escaped, I had only given myself false hope, and that the moment I clicked "yes" for the code to the survey link, I was trapped. There truly was no escape, and once you click, you're dead. While I may have destroyed the survey, I had opened a new door. Eventually, everyone, even you, will come home. The survey was only the beginning. Now, a new trend has begun. An anonymous door that you open, where you meet "the doctor," but don't be alarmed. He is only here to help you. He is only here to change you. He is only here, to make you part of the family.
All along, I was afraid to go home, but now I'm here with all my loved ones. My friends and my mom and dad that I burned to death in the fire. While I can't seem to find some of my friends that went missing, I've made some new friends here. If you are a brony, you'd refer to them as the Mane Six, and let me tell you, they remind me very much of the friends I just can't seem to find. It's almost as if... wait a minute... Oh my god! HELP ME! HELP M-
"Please forgive, Mr. Howard for his sudden outbursts. I swore that I gave him enough serum to make him forget, but apparently I'll have to double his dosage. As for you, do forget all that Mr. Howard has told you here. He is quite delusional, and has been experiencing relapses ever since he joined us here, but we are all working on fixing that issue. Take it from me, a doctor of high training, that everything you've just heard is nothing but lies to make you believe that I'm a crazy doctor who turns humans into ponies. I am far from so, sir or madam, now please do click onto the next video, or if you are reading this, the next story, Mr. Sparrow would appreciate it."
Warm regards,
-Dr. Malcintom
P.S
"Don't forget to come home soon. We are all here waiting for you. We will always be waiting...
