Curious Beginnings
The Devil’s Game; that is what I’ve decided to call this recollection and written piece of my own history. It’s rather sinister and ominous, and for good reason. What is The Devil’s Game? Is it hop-scotch or perhaps Monopoly? No, no. The Devil, whilst I’m sure loves the chaos and upset caused by Monopoly, is much more devious and evil with the games he enjoys. I’m writing this as a permanent reminder for everyone who reads… please don’t play his game.
It all started rather innocuous and innocently. My friend and I had become rather infatuated with ghosts, ghouls, demons and The Devil following the Halloween just been. We watched a plethora of ghost-hunting shows, the Conjuring film series and couldn’t get enough. We were being slowly dragged deeper and deeper into the world of the occult and the mystery that it surrounds itself in. Do I believe that everything in that world is evil? No. I believe it to be similar to our own, in that there are dark spots in the light and light shining through in the darkness. Beginning our journey, myself and my friend turned to the App Store. I know that’s not the usual first stop on a trip like this but we’re college students and, well, we didn’t want to be splashing cash on something we thought to be childish at the time. We wanted a taste of ghost-hunting and the terror that comes with it for free. So, we looked around on there for a while and the apps seemed laughable. The reviews didn’t help much with this either. There was one that told the story of a woman who used the app to communicate with a demon, ‘but it was a fun one’, and then later the spirit of a dead child who threatened to kill her, so she and her boyfriend moved to a mansion that he had just bought for them coincidentally. The reviews for the highest rated apps continued to follow this trend and, as a joke, I suggested we download and try the five highest-rated apps. My friend was a little less enthusiastic than I was but he agreed to join me. I downloaded the apps and the next thing we knew, we were sitting in his shed, at 11pm, in the complete and utter black of the night. The pale moonlight made it just about light enough for us not to fall into his dad’s rusty tools, that clearly hadn’t been used in a decade or so.
As we sat there, there was a feeling of unease in both of us. I can’t read minds or anything like that but the look in Matthew’s face, as I sat across from him, made it clear he was feeling the same way I was: afraid. I don’t know why we were; it was obvious to both of us that these apps were fake. Not even the highest grade, professional ghost-hunting equipment is scientifically able to detect spirits, so what chance did an app have at doing the same near-impossible task?
