Hypno

My old one had broken. I have always been a lover of Android phones but a few friends of mine suggested that I should try out the new Apple iPhone. After browsing through the various phone models that were available for the android ios I made the decision to at least look at the iPhone. The Android models were all either too pricey or not up to my standards. I am very picky with phones so I don't want to waste money on a phone that I didn't like. I looked at the information written on the display case and fiddled with the display iPhone. It was exactly what I was looking for. I walked to the cash register and told the clerk that I wanted the new iPhone. The clerk walked over the display case & used his key to unlock the bottom cabinet where the phones were stored. It was empty. "I think I might have some in the back. Let me check." He said before he walked out of the room and into the back room. I sighed and I tapped my fingers against the cold hard surface of the counter while the cashier searched the back room for the phone. After a few moments, he returned with a box in his hand. "You're in luck. This is the last one we have right now." I let out a sigh of relief after he rang up the phone. This was the third store I had visited in my quest for a phone so I was not enthused about the idea of having to try another one. I thanked the cashier, grabbed the bag & headed home. As soon as I opened the door I broke the packaging open in excitement. It took me a few minutes to activate the phone. I installed all the basic apps; Snapchat, Instagram, facebook, and Spotify. After I finished setting up and personalizing the phone I dialed one of my best friends to tell him of my purchase. We spoke on the phone for about an hour before hanging up. Impressed by the quality of the phone call I went to dial another friend. The notification tone played through the speakers of my device which caused my finger to pause before pressing another button. It was the friend I had just finished speaking to. 'He must have forgotten to mention something.' I thought to myself as I pressed on the notification bar to open the message.

"Hey. I found a cool app for you. I thought you might like it. It's one of those horror games." The message read. I loved the horror genre whether it be games, movies or television so his message definitely caught my attention. I opened the link he sent me and it opened up a page on the App Store. The title read; "Night Terrors." The title sounded really cool so I scrolled through to read some of the reviews. To my dismay, there actually wasn't any. Well, no written ones anyway but everyone did rate it five stars so it must be really good. I looked at the details section where you're supposed to summarize the game but it was empty. I felt that was strange but with all these positive ratings it must be okay. Maybe it just didn't load all the way in the App Store or the person forgot to save an updated version of whatever was supposed to be written there. I downloaded the game and watched eagerly as it installed on my phone.

"I'll try it out now." I messaged my friend back before opening the game. The screen changed to the color black with a spinning disc in the center to indicate that the game was loading. I set the phone down and opened my computer to do some work while it loaded. I would glance over at the phone screen every few minutes to check the status of the game but it remained the same. I sent a message to my friend over Facebook on my computer asking him if he's certain the game even works but I got no response. I sighed and closed out of the game. I didn't want to install it though just in case it worked later. Sometimes games have server issues so I figured maybe that was the issue. I downloaded the new YuGiOh Duel Links game in the meantime and started to play. I picked Seto Kaiba as the duelist to start the game with. When I pressed on his name the screen flickered for a moment. I almost didn't catch the glitch until I noticed that his name was now pixelated. 'Well, this is a new app so there are going to be bugs.' I thought to myself as I continued the game. During the rest of the time period, I spent playing Duel Links nothing else out of the ordinary happened. When I finished dueling everyone in the Duel World I closed the game. When the screen returned to the home page of my phone it flickered again but this time it lasted longer. 'Great. This is what I get for listening to my friends and buying an iPhone.' I thought to myself while I opened up the YouTube application. The application opened but it was not what I expected. The screen kept flickering when I pressed my finger to the screen & all the text was pixelated. I went to my favorites playlist and pressed on a random video. I figured if I can't read the text I could at least watch a video I already know. The video opened and instead of hearing Mutahar speak & say, 'This is me, Mutahar' a loud screeching rang out from the speakers. I was so startled that I dropped my phone. Luckily, there was no damage when I picked it up. I hastily closed the video and lowered the volume. I tried to open a different video. The audio played perfectly but the video kept flickering every few minutes. I let out a groan in frustration before closing the application. "I guess I'll have to take the phone back." I sighed. I opened messenger preparing to send a group text to my friends about my iPhone woes but the application wouldn't open. I pressed my finger hard on the screen a few times to no avail. 'Great.' I set the phone down and opened up the Facebook page on my computer. The loud screeching sound played through my phone's speakers again. I picked up the phone and held down the power button to turn it off. Instead of powering down, the screen changed to show one I had never seen before. It was a few rotating fractals against a black background. The screeching sound changed and turned into buzzing which made my ears twitch and tingle. I tried to look away from the screen but I couldn't. I found myself staring at the rotating image intensely. It slowly changed colors and shapes randomly while the buzzing sound changed frequencies and pitch. My ears felt as if they were vibrating and started to ring. My mouth hung open while I started on the screen. My head started to ache from the audio ringing in my ears. I couldn't look away, though. It was hypnotizing. The longer I stared at the screen the dryer my eyes got. After an hour of just staring at the screen, my stomach started to churn. My eyes started to water and tears fell down my face in distress. It was if all thoughts were erased from my mind. I tried to move but I couldn't. I was frozen in place. I was frozen in time. I tried to speak but no sound left my lips. I couldn't even blink my eyes which were now bloodshot from being open for so long and painful. 'This application is no game' I thought to myself as I tried to break free from whatever force was holding me in place. My mind screamed but my body was not listening. Letters started to appear on the screen almost blending in with the fractals. First, they were random but after a few minutes, they started to form words. The words melted into my mind with ease as this application had me in its' grasp. The phrases; No ideas, Conform, Stay Asleep, No Not Surrender and Consume all flashed on the screen quickly. This cycle repeated itself every ten minutes while the buzzing sound grew louder. I could feel every muscle in my body ache to move but it was stuck as if it were frozen in ice. There was a puddle of drool on the floor from my mouth hanging open all this time. There was a knock at the door but I couldn't hear it. The only thing I could hear was the buzzing from the game. I couldn't even hear my own thoughts inside my head. I was suddenly being pushed onto the ground. I felt disoriented as I scrambled to stand up. My legs felt like jello, my ears rang and my head felt like someone drilled into it.

"Don't download the game." I opened my eyes after a few moments of holding them shut as tightly as possible. It felt so good to be able to close my eyes again. When I opened my eyes I found my friend standing in front of me stomping on my new phone. I started to yell and ask what he was doing but he held out a hand to silence me before I could. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I had to break your phone. It's the only way to break the hypnosis." He picked up the pieces of what used to be my phone and tossed them in the garbage can. "I'll buy you a new one since this was my fault."

"Didn't you play it, too, though?" He shook his head. He went on to explain to me that he found it through a friend but he didn't install it because he wasn't a fan of the horror genre. He knew that I was so he sent it to me but that was before he found his brother in the same trance-like state that he found me in. I'm glad that he only lived a few houses away or else who knows what would have become of me. I shuddered as I looked down at the now broken phone lying in the garbage can on top of a few balled up pieces of paper. "Why?" That was the only question I could think of. Why would someone make an application like this and surely the five-star ratings had to be a false front to get people to download it. It's no wonder that the description didn't have any writing in it but who made it? What were they trying to do? I sat down on the bed while my friend gave me a glass of water. I downed it in a few seconds, clearly dehydrated from the ordeal. We never found out who created that application or what their purpose for it was but you better believe that I am now extremely wary of the applications I download. I replaced the iPhone with a new one through the mail and now when I download something I double check with a search online to check its' validity.

Eunmi Kaiba