EmpressOfDarkness's blog: "Short Stories"

All persons mentioned have given permission for their 'handle's' to be used. No harm has actually come to anyone before, during, or after the writing of this story. Nor has anything illegal actually taken place. The story itself is a complete work of fiction, so kindly take it as such.

Things had settled down in the lounges for a while. Everyone went on with their day to day lives. With the untimely passing of DJ Chaotic and DJ Eggz, DJ Edge had to replace them with some fresh faces. DJ Tilt had been letting people know that he would be returning permanently to help out.
People were still hopeful that Eggz would show up in spite of the rumours, but when DJ Master was brought in, hope began to falter. Rumors were still floating around about what had happened to DJ Chaotic. When word came back about how he had been electrocuted, people were in shock. No one could understand it.
I spoke to Midnite privately and she told me about how he was found. There was nothing wrong with the computer itself, the circuits weren't fried or anything, she had said. It was as if whatever happened was passed straight through the computer, into the keyboard and had cooked him from the inside-out. She couldn't get the image out of her head, nor what the coroner had told her. She told me about how it was as if all the liquid in his body; the blood, the water, even the acids in his stomach, had been evaporated. All of his internal organs were not only burnt, but they were shrivelled.
I wanted to ask how she knew all of this because I found it hard to believe that a coroner would tell her. The raw emotion she was feeling came through the screen loud and clear so I didn't doubt her. She wasn't just distraught, she was pissed. Someone was going to pay. Had to respect her for that. I knew if I was in the same position it would be the same for me.
We decided then and there to find out why it happened. She told me about how 'Chester' had bypassed Chaotic's security on his computer, and when he had control of it, he maxed out the voltage between the keyboard and the computer. This allowed him total access when he hacked the system.
It was about a week later when Chester made his reappearance. I was dumbstruck. I thought when Sexicutioner had died that would be it. Was I wrong? Did he have nothing to do with it? All sorts of doubt and questions ran through my mind. Who was next, was the worst of all of them.
We were all sitting around, talking about our missing friends when he made his presence known. I thought Midnite was going to lose her mind. I quickly got her on messenger and told her to remain calm. We had to go about this in a logical manner. Chester wasn't going to talk to any of us, we already knew that. We had to watch, and wait.
Reluctantly she agreed. Working on his keyboard, she'd found that the letters xenof were singed on the underside. It took her some time to realize that when he was working on the coding for the lounge, he'd typed the name of the program Xenofex. We discussed this at length, not sure of the significance of it, but it was at least worth remembering.

to be continued...

All persons mentioned have given permission for their 'handle's' to be used. No harm has actually come to anyone before, during, or after the writing of this story. Nor has anything illegal actually taken place. The story itself is a complete work of fiction, so kindly take it as such.

It was the same thing every night; everyone joined TMR to listen to whichever DJ was playing that night. People were trickling in slowly. Some stayed and chatted for a bit, while others popped in and out. For the most part it was just the regulars who talked about their days, trying to kill time.
Little did everyone know there was an unwanted, hidden guest in the room. No one ever saw him so it wasn't as if the owner, DJ Chaotic Evil, could eject or ban him. Soon enough everyone nicknamed him 'Chester'. If you asked where the name came from, no one could really tell you. Everyone had their own theories, but no one knew for sure.
DJ Chaotic Evil, or just chaotic to his friends was waiting to take air when Chester made his appearance that night. Everyone was sitting behind their computers, listening to the music. The tunes were rockin' and every now and then there would be a request thrown out. The current DJ was keeping up, but he wasn't talking.
Personally, I was beginning to wonder if he could have been behind the mysterious Chester, but that was quickly ruled out when Chester kicked out the DJ. Gin'n'Juice, otherwise known as Gin to all the regulars in the room popped in, celebrating. Things were going well for her and she wanted to share the news. Before she even got a chance to say hi, she was tossed out by Chester.
It went like this throughout the evening. No one was immune, no one except me that is. Who am I, you're wondering? I'm EmpressofDarkness. Empress or empresso to my friends. I watch night after night as Chester racks up his victims. People curse him out but there's no stopping him. He's vicious. There's no sympathy or design to his choice of his victims. Sooner or later he gets you.
I wondered on more than one occasion if Chester didn't have his own special appeal to those in the lounge. People as a general rule had an insane view about violence. Most found it drew them to it, despite the horror. This wasn't by any means bloody or overly violent. It just... was.
I began asking around, discreetly of course. Curiosity was getting the better of me and I wanted to know where Chester came from. I began hearing rumors. The first came to me from one of the regulars, his name was Sexicutioner. He told me about a dude who haunted the site. To this I did nothing more than laugh. I thought that it was hilarious, how could someone 'haunt' a site? He couldn't be sure, he didn't have many details for me but he seemed convinced. I thanked him but still there was doubt in my mind. I spoke to xtasy4u720 about it. He didn't seem all that worried, although some nights Chester seemed to pick on him a lot.
TMR, which stood for Twizted Mindz Radio, had hired a new DJ. He went by the name of EggzD@Clown. This was the first time I'd ever seen just how vicious Chester could be. Eggz came in and every time he tried to type he was kicked. Everyone in the room thought it was funny. He tried for over an hour but kept disappearing. Finally he gave up, or so we thought at the time.
Chaotic was next. See the way it works is that he has to reboot in order to 'take air.' While this confused me, everyone else seemed to have no problem with it. When he tried to come in and take over for the current DJ, Chester stepped in. He was able to get out a random curse word before being, yet again, thrown from the room.
I decided to look more into the rumors of the site. Problem was, with a site this large where did i start? Who could I ask? I tried talking to Gin in the shoutbox, but she was new and didn't have many answers. She told me she'd ask around, but I didn't have much hope of hearing anything.
Things went like this for a while, I searched and searched for answers but was getting nowhere fast. I went back to Sexicutioner to see if he heard anything else. That was when I found out about Chaotic. He asked me if I'd been told what happened to him. I replied that I hadn't. He told me that Chaotic was found at his computer, dead.
I was in shock. How could this have happened? What happened? He wasn't sure but from what he'd heard, the site's page was open to where he had to insert the coding and he'd been electrocuted. I jolted in my seat. How was it possible to be electrocuted by one's computer, yet it still work? I didn't think that was possible. From what I was told, it was and the most peculiar part was that his fingers had fused to the keys.
Sexicutioner was freaked out to say the least. He was beginning to be afraid to go in the lounge, yet it was like a compulsion. It was like that for most of us. Til the night that Gin disappeared. With the disappearance of the latest DJ and Chaotic's passing, everyone was up in arms.
I was distraught. Everyone was. Panic quickly filled the lounge. Where had Eggz and Gin disappeared to? What happened to them. I began pushing for more answers. I started questioning people in other lounges and found that they too had the same problem. People were starting to disappear for no reason. People who had by and large been quite regular to the room.
The people I spoke to had different names for him but I found one major coincidence. All of the names chosen began with the letter C. I wasn't sure if there was a link to this but I decided to look into it. I began by using the local search engines, figuring I would start with the information that Sexicutioner had given me and go from there. Anything had to be better than sitting around waiting for more and more people to disappear.
What I found out startled me. This had been going on for years. TMR wasn't the first one hit. Something told me that it wouldn't be the last either. Somehow, someway this had to stop. I began looking for the source. Everything had one. I just had to find a way to it.
I began by talking to one of the DJ's, he asked that I not reveal his name for safety reasons. I thought that it was because if he did, then he could have been the next victim of Chester. Soon I was in. I logged into the site's main page and began looking around. I had no idea what I was looking for, but I figured if it was there then something would stand out.
Paydirt! I lucked out in the most unusual way. Names were popping off the page. Soon my computer screen was flashing as thousands of names scrolled down. Thousands, god what was going on? I wondered. Suddenly the screen went black. I was about to reboot when a message appeared. 'Reboot and die' it said. There was a cursor for me to type, so I quickly responded.
"Who are you?"
"I am Chester"
"What do you want?"
There was no response.
"What do you want?" I retyped.
Again, there was no response.
Getting angry, I typed, "Just what are you getting from this?" I knew there had to be a way to stop him but I couldn't do very much with a black screen. I had to think, yet I also knew I had to keep him talking.
"Reboot and die." This filled the screen over and over.
How had he gotten into my computer? I wondered. Well, if there was one thing I knew how to do well, it was bullshit my way through a situation.
"I know who you are." I typed when he had stopped.
"You can't know."
"Oh, I know more than you realize. I am going to stop you."
"You can't, I'm eternal."
"Oh no, you're not. You made one fatal mistake.
"I never make mistakes."
I could picture him sitting there behind the screen, sweat dripping down his temple. I had him now. I didn't know why i couldn't think of it before, but it was like a light bulb switched on in my head and I knew.
"Just tell me why!"
"You have nothing."
I knew we could go on like this for hours. Of course he was right, I did have nothing. There was no proof he was behind it all but at the same time, I knew. There was no one else it could have been.
"Was it a virus gone wrong?"
No response.
"A joke gone bad?"
I knew I was giving him an out but I had to get him to admit something. In the mean time I got my other computer up and running. For someone like me, running 2 computers was like trying to be in the driver seat of 2 different cars at the same time. Very nerve wracking.
Quickly, I pulled up the site and went to the lounge. Just as I thought he was there. People screamed out their usual hello's but he remained silent. I responded then told them I'd be right back.
Hopping back to the other computer screen I typed. "Have I confused you yet?" Then went back to the other screen. I knew he would blow it any time now. "You can't take over 2 at once can you?"
I went to work on my other computer, joining the two together so that I could find out where he was from. There I quickly hacked into his system from my working computer and activated his cam. I wanted to know who I was dealing with. I wasn't prepared for what was on my screen. There he was, just as I was expecting. My computer had given up the IP and I was lucky enough to match it up with his handle.
What stared back at me was nothing that I was expecting. His skin had withered and clung loosely. His cheekbones were easily made out despite the pallor of his skin. His eyes were sunken and glazed. Barely moving i wasn't entirely sure if he was even alive, til I saw him move, reaching for a smoke. With a few strokes of the keyboard I knew I had him.
"I keel you!"
His eyes flashed up and he saw the light on for the cam. Clutching his chest, he collapsed.
The final words on the screen appeared before everything went black. "Walter made me do it."

I never found out why all this started. The only thing I was glad for was that it was finally over. None of the missing members were ever seen again, which was unfortunate. 

He promised, she seethed. He promised and yet again he failed to deliver. She paced the room, her eyes flickered toward the closed door. Liar, she thought. He's such a liar! She stalked back to the fireplace and saw a picture of the two of them at the fair, taken only a few short months ago. His eyes were a warm blue, yet the gaze was cold and distant. It was as if he was staring straight through the camera, she noticed.
The sound of a disgruntled engine broke the silence of the living room, and she spun around waiting for the door to open. Anger flowed through her, making her blood feel warm and giving her skin a healthy glow. Wanting a final moment to herself, she stormed into the kitchen. Walking around the island, she hoped for something cool to drink.
She wasn't sure what she was going to do yet, but he had to learn that when he made a promise, it should be kept. Breaking them just... wasn't acceptable.
Hearing the front door slam, she reached for her drink then went back to the living room.
"Hi babe," Jeff called from the front entry. "I'm home."
"I'm home," she mocked quietly, walking across the hardwood floor.
"Tess, did you say something?"
"You forgot," Tess said, her hand resting on the doorway. She brought her other hand up to take a sip and realized she grabbed a knife from the butcher block instead of her glass.
"Forgot what?" Jeff asked, untying his boot. He looked up and saw the knife being tapped on his wife's lip. Her eyes glared down at him.
She stormed out of the room back into the kitchen. Slamming the knife down on the island, she looked at the clock on the wall above the stove. It was late, the candles had burned down to nubs and dinner was still warming in the oven. Although she felt no desire to eat it. Tess began putting the dishes away and clearing off the candles for the trash as Jeff walked in the room.
"Tess?"
"You do not want to talk to me right now Jeff. You just want to wait until I calm down."
"I don't know what..."
"You never know. That's just it, you never know, you never remember."
"Remember what?" Jeff looked at her completely confused.
"What's today, Jeff?" She swung around, her hair flying freely behind her. "What day of the freaking month is it?"
"The 15th."
"And what is the 15th of this month, Jeff. Think really goddamn hard." She glared at him. When he gave no reply she continued. "I asked you specifically to be here on time today." A tear escaped, and she wiped it for its bitter betrayal.
Jeff stood there silently, watching as she stormed around the kitchen replacing everything and tried to remember why she had asked him to be home. It had just been a couple of beers with the guys. Normally she wouldn't have gotten angry at him coming home later than usual. She was usually pretty good about things like that.
When she pulled the cake box from the fridge, a light switched on in his head. How could he have been so stupid, he berated himself. "Tess, I'm sorry."
"You're sorry." She glared at him as she opened the box slowly. "The one night I ask you to be home early, because it was important. You couldn't even remember! You promised and you lied!"
"It wasn't..."
"Of course it wasn't," she interrupted. "It never is."
He took a step toward her, and stopped when she lifted the knife up off the island again.
"This is what I think of your "it wasn't's" and your "I'm sorry's." She drove the knife viciously through the 'Happy." Lifting the blade back out of the cake, she flicked the tip at him. Icing and cake flew across the room and landed firmly on his shirt.
He stared at her in both disbelief and shock. As he went to wipe the cake off, another shot landed on his arm and chest. He tried to avoid the next impact but she was throwing recklessly now. There was cake and icing plastered against the wall, While she screamed obscenities, her hair flew wildly around her face as she turned, reaching for another slab. As she spun around with the cake cutter in her hand, Jeff reached her.
The timing couldn't have been more wrong. The blade slid easily to the hilt between fabric and skin. Jeff paused mid stride, stunned. Looking down, he saw the handle still in Tess' hand. Her eyes widened in shock and horror. A single drop of blood escaped the bottom of the wound, forming a crimson tear stain on his shirt.
Everything seemed to suddenly move in slow motion, his knees gave out beneath him and he crumbled to the floor as easily and silently as the cake had only seconds before. Staring at the remnants of the word anniversary on the cake, Tess began to scream. A moment later, Tess collapsed to the floor in a dead faint, the couple surrounded by icing, crumbs and peppermints.