Five Thousand Dollar Betrayal

maybe some last, stupid part of me hoped that hea

ain. "She' s n

one, Rob," I said.

n the sound of the ph

Sarah' s voice was sharp. "W

hree thousand dollars

end. I heard Rob whispering som

no longer just annoyed, bu

ue this sick game. Rob just told me you went to his

phone, my control finally snapping.

get to you. He' s just lashing out. He' s probably jealous of Kevin." He sounded

earned his success. He worked for that 1600. He' s building a future. What have you ever d

e harder than a

. "If you contact me or Kevin or Rob again, I will get a restraining

ne wen

he phone still in my hand. It was final.

get tha

ata entry for a dollar a page. Moving furniture for a guy who paid

on a gaming forum

ic horror VR game. High pay rate. Must be o

our session. I did the math. A few sessions and I

y with an address for a wareho

man with tired, bloodshot eyes had me sign a thick legal waiver without even lo

until the timer goes off. There' s a panic bu

existence around me. It was a decaying, gothic mansion. The air was thick with the sound o

lunged from the shadows or the doors that slammed shut. It was the atmosphere. It felt genuinely, horribly real. The details were insan

bing poems. I felt a constant, crawling sense of being watched. My heart pounded, my palms were slick with sweat, and every nerve

t a monitor. "You did good. Mo

ack of cash. Five

e next day. An

whispers started to sound like my father' s last words. A shadowy figure in the game' s li

ugh the terror, focusing on the

mare, I had it. I walked out of that warehouse for the last time,

the funeral home

n for tomorrow," the director

d, too exhau

inal peace. And it had cost

-