Maybe not SCARY, but indeed frightening and has that 'fear' effect on me...
Wrong CD
You look at the clock again. 7:05. You’ve been working
late, trying to finish a major company project before it’s due
the next morning. You’re almost done, but it feels like it’s
been hours since everyone else went home. You step in the hall
for a quick drink of water, then return to your desk.
You need to transfer some files from the disc your boss handed
you. Now where did you put it? You shuffle through your desk
before noticing a CD sitting on a pile of papers that you’re sure
wasn’t there before. Maybe someone else is working late, but
you’re sure you haven’t heard anyone since quitting time. Oh well.
You insert the disc into your PC and bring up its content folder only
to find it empty. Maybe the disc is scratched, you think, because
it’s making an awful screech in the drive. You slide it out of the
computer and look it over, but it seems okay. You set it aside and
look around again and find the right CD, finish the project, and
head home.
A few days go by with work as usual, but for some reason you
haven’t thrown away the blank CD from that night. You almost feel…
attached to it. You keep it on your desk, but you haven’t used it
since that night you worked late. Sometimes, when you look at it,
you feel like you can still hear the screeching sound the CD made in
your computer, only it’s slightly distorted. To be honest, it’s
beginning to sound less like a screech and more like…human screams.
Like several voices all belting out with all the power their lungs
can muster. You’ve been working too much, so maybe it’s just the
late hours getting to you.
You’ve gotten another project to do, and you’ve wasted too much
time with it. You’re working late again. You are almost done,
but you need to copy some files onto another computer. You check
the clock again. 7:04. Something catches your eye, and you notice
the blank CD again, sitting on your desk where it’s been for almost
a week. Well, it’s blank, right? You need to copy the files, so
you slide the disc into your CD drive. Almost immediately, the
sound starts again, that screaming sound. It’s louder now, you’re
positive it sounds human. It sounds close. Never mind that, you
can find another CD. You open the drive and pull the CD out. But
screaming won’t stop. You quickly turn off your speakers, and when
that doesn’t help, you shut down your monitor and PC. The last
thing you see before your monitor shuts off is the clock in the
bottom right. 7:05. The screaming still won’t stop. You can hear
it, reverberating in your office. It’s getting louder. You glance
around, thinking one of your co-workers must be pulling a prank on
you.
For some reason your eyes settle on the clock on your desk. The
red glow from the numbers almost fill your entire cone of vision.
You watch as the time changes. From 7:05 to 6:66. All of a sudden,
the lights go out. As you panick and look about, you realize it’s
much darker than the building should be without power.
You look around, and the CD catches your eye again. And it won’t
let go. You feel drawn towards it. The screams are louder than ever,
more persistent, almost beckoning. You feel compelled to approach the
CD, and as you do, it seems to take on a glow of its own, a dark, smoky
red that brightens as you approach it. You can’t stop moving towards
it, and you can feel yourself being lifted up from the floor, and the
disc gets bigger, until the whole of it looks like some twisted gateway.
You realize that that’s exactly what it is, and you can only guess what
lies beyond. The hole in the CD offers glimpses of horrors you can’t
comprehend, flashes of grotesque creatures you’ve never heard of;
dead, glaring eyes; gruesome burial rituals; and much more that you
can’t describe. You are overwhelmed by the images, and you begin to
scream, and the more you see, the more you scream. Your sanity breaks
as you pass through the hole in the CD, and you are surrounded by those
horrors. The only thing you are capable of doing is screaming, as much
as you can.
* * *
The next morning, your boss comes into your office early to check
on your project. He doesn’t see you, but he sees a CD sitting on some
papers on your desk. He picks it up, and takes it to his own computer to
check your work, but the CD doesn’t contain any files at all. He’s
going to have a stern talk with you when you come in for the day.
He also mumbles to himself to get his disc drive looked at, it’s
making an awful screeching noise. He removes the disc and leans over
to his trash bin, but something keeps him from throwing the CD away.
He sets it by his clock, noting the time as he does. 7:05.