Sorry.ROM

This is my first creepypasta. I hope you enjoy the story and would love to hear some feedback from you.

Sorry.ROM
I can't even see straight right now... I have been sitting at this keyboard for the past five hours... and only now do I have the ability to start writing... Only now do I even know how to begin... how to describe what happened... what I made happen...



I suppose you should hear the whole story. I need to tell it. You have to understand...



My name is Nathan. I have been teaching myself to program games since I was little. Naturally I ended up looking into a career of making games. Found a good collage for that sort of thing. That is where, in my Sophomore year I met my best friend, Trevor. He and I took to each other really quick, we were both on the same career track, but what made us work so well together was that, while I was skilled at coding, I sucked at any kind of art or design, That was where Trevor came in, he had been drawing since he was really young, soon went on to 3D modeling and animation. We were quite the pair, he came up with ideas like no one else, and I could, for the most part, code them.



The next year we roomed together, and we took all the same classes, and pretty much kept the same social circles. So naturally when he discovered creepypastas, we were both hooked. being the gamers we were we naturally took to the game based stories more than others. Ben, Pokemon Hacked Red,

Haunted Mario 64 and the like.



It was all fun and games, Trever would get all wound up in these stories, much more than me. Probably because he was so much more imaginative.



But things went bad about half way through our second semester. We had a teacher, Mr. Sullivan. His name was hard to forget in his class, as it was decorated by stuffed Monster's Inc. Sully plushies that past students had bought him as a joke.



He was an interesting teacher, he taught "World and Level Design" often going on about the games of the past, and how flawless they were. He often gave out emulators and ROMs to play some of these old games for study. There was a reason everyone wanted to take his class.



The trouble began when Trevor took a few days to go visit home. He didn't say why, just that it was a family matter, and that's all he felt like sharing. I shrugged it off, he felt it was private so I let it go. He had to miss a few classes, one of which was Mr. Sullivan's. I agreed to pick up any homework for him, and let him borrow my notes when he got back.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">But Mr. Sullivan had something different for us, a two week assignment. He gave us a ROM of an old favorite, Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time, with the assignment of playing as much of the game as we could and writing an essay of what our favorite temple of the game was, and what elements of design we liked about it.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I took a copy for me and for Trevor. But when I got home I realized that I had a great opportunity, Trevor was not going to be back for another few days, so I decided this would be a great time to play with his love for creepypasta.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I took the ROM into my room, and loaded his into my computer. I didn't have the texturing and graphical know how, so I decided that I would have to stick with Ben style glitch like creepiness. I

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">was ok with that, I always found the creepypastas that took that route to be far more eerie.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I worked hours into the night, nearly finishing the edited code. I had textures popping out, animations glitching up, music slowing down, eerie messages in unwelcome situations, the works. But still it felt undone. I had this nagging feeling in the back of my head that I had more to do. It needed something, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't find what it was missing. Something to really get under his skin, really freak him out. But I was spent. So I decided to head to bed.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The sleep really got my brain working, I got up the next morning, and it was almost like I had found the missing code in my dreams. I found the place I wanted it and put it in real quick. I couldn't think real clearly what it did, I needed coffee first.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">As I walked out of the apartment my neighbor, Ben, came up to me and gave his usual droll hello. He wasn't a close friend but I did like him well enough. I smiled and waved then thought he

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">would be a perfect person to ask to test out my modded game. "I modded my roommate's Ocarina of Time ROM, want to test it out for me?" I asked. He smiled wickedly "Creep it up a bit did you?" he asked excitedly. He loved his horror.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I left the apartment unlocked, I knew this guy, he had apartment sat for us in the past. If not for his over love for the morbid, he and I would get along much better than we did.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Classes were uneventful and I came home ready to play my version of Zelda. I played it a lot as a child so I knew I would be able to jump right in, but I had been far to long for me to remember enough for an essay, so I felt a rundown of the temples would be a good idea.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I walked in and Ben came stumbling out, his eyes were glazed over and he bumped into me. "Sorry..." he said, a bit shakily. "Good job on that mod man... felt like you made it just for me..." he said before shambling back to his apartment.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I was a bit annoyed by this encounter. I though he had been smoking pot in my apartment, something I would have never done. I remember thinking that, at least I couldn't smell it. And could probably just go about my day. I did decide to go into Trevor's room and open the windows, to air out any fumes Ben may have left behind. But even there I couldn't find any proof that he had been smoking anything.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I spent the next few days playing through my game. I got to the water temple before Trevor got back. I explained to him what he missed and gave him his assignments. I then handed him his version of Ocarina of time. I asked him how his trip went and he still didn't tell me much. "Had a funeral to go to... Still don't really want to talk about it."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">We decided to sit down to a few B movies over Netflix before taking off to play our games. After reaching the shadow temple I decided to call it a night. I still remembered the shadow temple from when I was a child and still didn't think I could play it after dark.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The next day I came out for breakfast to see Trevor giving me a sarcasticly annoyed grin, "Seems my game is haunted..." He then chuckled. I was happy to see that he was starting to feel a bit better. I had been a bit worried. He didn't keep that much from me, so when he didn't mention anything about his trip, it naturally caused concern. But seeing him perk up a bit set my mind at ease. The day went on as usual, go to classes, work for a few hours, crash on couch. Trevor usually came out and we would play some CoD or Super Smash Bros, once I got home but when I arrived he was still locked up in his room. I figured he was just caught up in his modded game.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">It wasn't until I had begun eating dinner that I heard a door slam from Trevor's room. "You fucking son of a bitch!" I heard him scream. I turned just to meet with his fist hitting the side of my face. "I didn't know you were such a sick little jackass before... Who told you!? Why would you ever... EVER...." he just gripped the table, his knuckles turning white, his fingernails digging into the wood.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I looked up at him, confused and a bit scared. I had no idea what he was talking about, or why he hit me. This sudden outburst of violence was so unlike him. "Tell me what? What did I do?!" He grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me in before saying in a low, hate filled voice "Who told you my brother killed himself. Who told you we just buried him this last week? Was it Ben?!"

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">My look became more puzzled and he slowly let go of my shirt... "Oh... oh god... You didn't... did you?" He let go of my shirt and I fell back on the table. " It's him... he's punishing me. Punishing me for what I said that night. I'm sorry man I thought..." He simply stopped there before going back to his room.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I was left on the floor of our living room. All I could feel was the side of my face still burning from where he struck me, and a deepening fear. He had never acted like that to me or anyone I had seen him with. I couldn't imagine what he thought I had done. I wanted to ask him more but in the state he was in I doubted he wanted to see me...

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I didn't bother him that night. I left him alone. I wish I hadn't.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">At about noon I went into his room. I had to get him up, thought getting him to class would do him some good. He needed out of his room. Away from that game. Perhaps it had been messing with his mind. And just after burring his brother, something like that was more likely to just bring him down. I opened the door slowly, asking if he was awake. And that's when I found him.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">In his hand he had a knife. His throat was now gaping open, sliced from ear to ear. On his shirt was a note. "I told him to do something with his life or kill himself. I didn't think he would take it seriously. I wish I had never gotten that mad at him. Now the Ghost Hunter has him. You have to understand. I can't let him be alone."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I was in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This is a man I had planned to share a career with. My best friend. We were supposed to have years of designing games... making dreams... all gone.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The next few days were hectic. His parents came over and took his body back with them. The funeral was a few weeks later. I kept the note. They didn't need to know what kind of pain drove him to this.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">On top of that something had hit me as strange. This all happened after he went crazy the other day. Something in the modded game scared him. I thought through the code and what he could have mistaken for his brother's ghost.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">It then hit me. That last bit of coding I did. I had forgotten all about it. I did this. I did it without even realizing it. I killed my best friend.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">This thought festered in my head as I went to the memorial party in Trevor's honor.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I sat with Ben. Besides me he saw him the most. I started talking to him about my theory. I needed someone to tell me it was crazy, that I was blaming myself to something I had no part of. But he simply listened to me talk. Much to my dismay he seemed to become more uncomfortable as the comversation went on. He didn't seem to like me talking about the game either. Eventually I asked him what was bothering him.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">" I... I felt something too... When I played. I didn't think much of it. Just thought it was a good mod. Although I didn't get much past the first level." He took a sip of the beer he had in his hands. I looked at him puzzled. “Just the first level? You were there for a few hours.” He gave a chuckle. “Yeah. I never played it as a kid. Didn't know what I was doing I guess.” My laughter faded as I told him I was going to find out what I did. I had to see what he saw.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"I should look for you.” he said. “In your state of mind I don't think it would be wise to let you go through with something like that." I thanked him and we went to my apartment.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I handed him a flash drive of the emulator. He held patted me on the shoulder and gave me a smile. “Don't worry, I will play from Trevor's last save and see where he left off. I'm sure It won't take long to see if there was anything around that would have scared him that much. Don't worry. I'm sure noting will turn up.” I looked up and tried to fake a smile. “Thanks for taking a look. Honestly I'm a bit scared to look myself.” He gave me one final pat on the shoulder before entering his apartment.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Needless to say I didn't sleep well that night. I kept jumping back and forth between believing it was my fault, and thinking it a coincidence. Neither thought was comforting. Either I screwed up, and drove my friend to madness. Or he was simply too far gone, driven mad by his brother's death. Either way he suffered, and that's the knowledge that hurt the most. No matter what I couldn’t help.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I didn't get any answers the next morning. Nor the next... After a week I had the police enter his apartment. They found him hanged, a note on his chest. "I should have warned him of what I felt the first time playing the game. I should have stopped him from playing it. Now the Ghost Hunter has him. You have to understand I can't let him be alone."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I was devastated. Over the next few weeks I got some counseling. Needless to say it didn't help. A month passed. But the pain never got any better.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Today my councilor told me that to truly put this behind me I had to play the modded game. After doing so, I would see that I didn't do anything wrong.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">That brings us to tonight. I popped in the flash drive that the game was on and booted up the game itself. The games started, but no Nintendo logo popped up. The music began but was choppy and slowed down. Then Link went riding by on Epona, Link's head glitching in and out. But I had expected this, I had programed the game to act as such. I pressed start and looked through the files. The top file, named Jackass, was Trevor's... I reasoned that he would likely have last saved right before were he decided to kill himself.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I loaded up the game and it loaded in Adult Link's version of the Temple of time. The music was slowed to a pace that made the notes of the choir sound deep and booming, menacing almost. Link stood in front of the pedestal for the master sword, looking at the screen, twitching from time to time, sporadicly. This unnerved me a bit, but I knew it would happen and walked out, that wouldn't have affected Trevor and Ben very much.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I thought to what the notes had said. After taking a long while I remembered that they both said "The Ghost Hunter had them." I hadn't played this game in a long time so I googled info on the ghost hunter on my second screen connected to my computer. I saw the image of the small man that would buy Poe souls off of you in the game. I ran into town, the Redeads all missing from the scene, making it easy to get to my destination. I soon found myself next to the house just next to the drawbridge.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Inside was the man who would buy poes from you. There was nothing wrong here, the game played normally, even Link's animations were all correct. This really got under my skin. Things should have been happening here. I programmed things to happen here. Even if they didn't take Link's animations should have still been messed up. But he walked normally. I shook it off and prepared myself, I would finally have my answers. I headed up to him and pressed the A button.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Hello Nathan. I have been waiting for you."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I jumped back at my name being used. I know I didn't program that to happen. "Surprised at me using your name?" he asked "And now you wonder how I know what you are thinking." I was completely freaked out, I had no idea how it was doing this. "I read minds Nathan... I'm sure that any information you find on me will say so..."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I looked back to my other monitor, clicking on the first wiki link. Sure enough, it spoke of his abilities to read minds.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"I know why you're here..." the dialog box slowly typed out. He stood up, and turned to his shelf of captured ghosts. He looked back to me before turning again. He raised his stick parting the flam like poes. He seemed to be searching for something. “Ah Ha! There you are...” read the dialog box. He sloly herded out two of his poes forcing the first one into a jar. The second bolted to the side, but a whack of his stick against the cage halted it's escape. And using his stick again, he pushed the second one into a jar as well. Slowly he turned back to face me, placing his stick against the bed he held out the jars to me.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Go ahead. Take a closer look...”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I didn't want to see what he had to show me, but I knew that this would haunt me either way. And at least this way I would have answers. So with a sigh, I pressed the C button.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I nearly vomited. In the flames of the jars he held before me I could make out the faces of my friends, Trevor and Ben. The dialog box popped up again as the Ghost Hunter took his seat, pulling the jars to his chest. "I have them now."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I have to tell my story because I need you to understand. I have not shut down my game window yet. I need to be there when I do it. But to my friends and family, I needed to explain. I owe you that much.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">This is my fault. I hurt people. Unleashed something beyond my ability to control. I can't fully explain why, but perhaps that is for the best. I would hate for someone to replicate this after it's all over.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I gave him power. I set him on my friends. Now the Ghost Hunter has them. I pray to God he won't get you. But as for me... You have to understand. I can't let them be alone.