[(y/n)=your name, (h/c)=hair colour, (e/c)=eye colour, (n/n)=nickname, etc.]

I sit on the couch with my laptop sitting in my lap while I eat a bowl of ice cream. Mint chocolate chip has never tasted this boring in all my years of eating it. Maybe it's because I've had it every day for the past two months... I think to myself. I take one last bite, then stand up and walk to the kitchen, tossing the bowl into the sink. I'll put that away later.

I return to my computer, ready to re-re-watch another episode of (favourite show), but decide to grab a blanket first. Ever since my parents left a couple of months ago for a 'business trip', I have barely eaten a thing, except for my mint ice cream and an occasional vegetable or fruit, of course. During this time, I've lost a lot of weight, which causes me to be cold more often since I have less fat on me to keep me warm. I'm not doing it intentionally, but I just have forgotten to eat, or i get too lazy (*cough cough* depressed *cough*) to get up and make food. I needed to lose some weight anyway.

I wrap the blanket around my shoulders, then sit back down and tap the play button on my computer screen. I continue to watch miserably, not able to laugh, smile, or even react in the slightest to what the characters do. How much I value life really has decreased these past few months, and I can't really find pleasure in anything anymore. I've finished all the video games I own, I've watched the entirety of all my favourite shows and even ones that just seemed somewhat interesting, I've watched probably every video on my suggested list on YouTube, and I've read every book I own, digital or paper. Still, none of these bring any sort of fun or entertainment to me. Now I'm merely doing it to pass the time until something better comes along in my life or until I eventually die from whatever cause.

I would call my parents and try to talk to them, but they won't answer. They want nothing to do with me. You may ask how i know they're not dead? They butt-dial me every now and then, and I can hear them talking. One time I even heard them talking about how they love the new home they bought for just the two of them and that they can't believe how quick it was to move in. They said they're excited to start over and live in that house together, only the two of them. Without me.

They've forgotten about me.

But I don't care anymore. I just hope that i run out of food soon so i can starve to death since they didn't leave me any money to buy food nor a car to even get to a foods store. It doesn't help that I live at least half an hour away from any sort of town or shop. Rest In Pepperonis, me.

I have no friends or family to help me out either. If I did have anyone, I would have called them already, but instead I just sit in silence. Alone.

My screen glitches out, making the characters's faces lag and become overly pixelated. This has never happened before. My computer has never acted this strange. It's usually fast and smooth, never lagging or glitching. What's going on? I try to move my mouse to exit the tab, but the little arrow is frozen on screen. Suddenly, the whole video becomes choppy, skipping to different parts of the episode and playing a different clip of sound each time.

"I see you" the clips sound out. My eyes widen. That had to have been coincidence, right? My heart feels as though it's about to pound out of my chest. This is absurd.

The video crashes, sending my screen completely black, except for the flickering white line on the top left hand corner, like something you would see on a document you'd type on. Maybe I should try typing something? That might help my computer unfreeze, or maybe it will just help me find out if it's even frozen or not. I try to type out a few letters, but none of them appear on the screen, yet the line keeps flashing. So it's not frozen... what's going on?

Suddenly, letters appear on the screen, but they aren't any of the ones I typed.

//hello, (y/n)//

My head starts to feel light as my heart pounds out of my chest and i feel my temperature rise. How does it know my name? I never put my name into my computer, I always used a fake screen name or username. How does it know my name? And how is this happening? Is it possible to force someone else's computer to glitch out and crash, then send a message to it without that person's consent? Who is doing this? And how is he/she doing it?

//you seem pale. are you scared?//

My hands start to tremble. It can see me too?! "How can it see me?!" I whisper to myself, setting the laptop down on the couch next to me as I turn away and run my fingers through my hair, stressed. I shake my head, trying to get some sort of calm back into my body. I turn back around and pull the laptop back into my lap, only to find another message written on the screen.

//i'm no "it". i'm male and offended, for your information//

How can it hear me?! Oops, I mean he... wait no! Why am I being polite to a stupid glitch, or whatever this is? But that's not the main question. The main question is how in the world can it actually hear me? First, it can see me, now it can hear me too? I start to grow dizzy, so I hold my hand to my head as if that will help calm me down. Finally, I put my hands back down and try to type a response to the glitch, but the words don't appear on the screen. It's not letting me type? If i can't type, then how am I supposed to communicate with it—him. I mean him. Well, it heard me talk out loud before, so maybe i should just try that again.

"Who or what are you?" I ask, my voice shaky.

//your worst nightmare//

I frown. "I've had nightmares worse than this."

//well darn//

I wait for him to say something else, but nothing happens. Was that it? Why is the screen still showing the chats? Why won't it let me go back to the normal desktop? Should I ask him what's going on?

The words escape my mouth before I can decide. "What is this? What are you planning on doing to me?"

//i'm planning on killing you, of course//

A small gasp escapes my lips. "A-and how exactly are you planning on doing that? You're just a virus in my computer." I say, though I'm uncertain if my words are true or not.

//would a virus be able to do this?//

Suddenly, my screen fades to black-and-white static like that you'd see on a television, but then a hand creeps up onto the screen. My heart pounds in fear, but i am frozen. The hand then begins to fall through the screen, it's long fingers landing on the letter keys of my laptop.

My heart stops.

A scream escapes my lips as a glitchy chuckle plays from my computers speakers. I quickly slam my computer screen shut on the fingers, causing the same glitchy chuckle to cry out in pain. I stand up off the couch and back away slowly, watching the computer.

"Gah! What the—" it begins to curse repeatedly, which I almost find funny. I would have laughed if I wasn't so terrified.

The top of my laptop swings open as a person that looks like Link from the Zelda games stands inside my screen. Both his arms sprawl out onto the couch as he pulls himself out of the screen. The only difference between him and Link is that this person has jet black eyes with red irises. "You shouldn't have done that." He says, his voice staticky. My breathing starts to grow rapid as I watch him pull his whole body along with a sword through the screen. He stands up and steps off the couch, landing on the rug with a thud.

"H-how did you—?" I begin ask breathlessly, my voice shaking from fright.

"How did I come out of the screen? It's just a little thing I can do." He says, an evil smile forming on his lips.

I shake my head. That wasn't the question I was going to ask. "How did you fit through the screen? The screen is tiny!" I say, still breathless from the fear coursing through my veins.

He turns back around and looks at the laptop, then back at me. "Good question, actually. I don't know either." He says with a shrug. I look at him confused. He's here to kill me.. why are we talking casually?

"Why do you want to kill me?" I ask, surprised that I didn't stutter.

"Well, killing is fun!" He begins, making me shiver. "Now, about killing you specifically? I couldn't care less. But you were on my mission list, so here I am!" He says with an eerie giddiness and a chuckle.

I remain silent, looking around the room as I go through several different escape plans in my head.

"Well, it's kinda boring to kill someone when they don't even try to fight back or run away, so I suggest you start running." He says as black ooze starts to bleed from his eyes.

I follow his advice without another word. I dart out of the living room and into the kitchen. I can either run to the front door or I can try to grab a knife and defend myself.

The knife seems like the more fun option.

The glitch's insane laughter echoes behind me as I run around the table in the kitchen. But, just as luck would have it, I trip and fall over one of the chairs, causing me to fall right onto the dog dish full of water, which splashes it all over me. Oh no, now Snickers will get parched. But I'll have to deal with that later. I stand back up, just to hear more laughter right behind me, but this time it's genuine laughter and not sadistic.

I turn around and see the glitch clutching his stomach as he points at my now dripping-wet figure while laughing. "What an idiot!" He chokes out between laughs. Again, just my luck, his laugh is contagious, and it makes me giggle a bit, but I quickly shake my head and run over to the knife drawer, pulling out the biggest and sharpest one I own. Ah yes, this trusty little guy. Feels good to have him in my hands again.

Finally, the glitch stops laughing and starts to walk to me again, this time more slowly as a menacing smirk tugs at his lips. I hold the knife out towards him threateningly, to warn him off. Why am I trying to protect myself?

"Wow, somebody's ballsy. Don't you see the frickin' sword in my hand?" He exclaims with a laugh, holding up his sword. With one swift slash of his sword, he knocks the knife out of my hands and onto the floor. "Funny, you're drenched in water from a dog bowl, but I don't see a dog anywhere. So where's the poor mutt? I'll kill it too, while I'm at it. Maybe I'll give it's guts to Jack." He teases evilly. Snickers is no mutt! How dare he talk about him that way?! But also, who's Jack?

The glitch starts to walk toward me, making me take a step back, then suddenly he charges, which causes me to stumble and fall onto my rear. This only makes him laugh. "You're pathetic!" He says, his voice high with insanity as an insane wide-eyed toothy smile makes its way onto his face. He walks up to me, putting a leg on either side of me, trapping me. He holds his sword up high, ready to stab it into my chest. "Say goodbye~"

An idea sparks into my mind: an escape.

I grab onto his legs and pull myself between them, sliding behind him on the tile floor. I quickly rise to my feet and run to the back door, swinging it open. I turn around to look at him and see him staring at me with a frustrated-yet-baffled expression. "Goodbye!" I say with a wave, then dash out of my house and into the woods.

(Word count: 2176)