The Chain Letter Phantom

      WARNING:

     

      This story contains graphic horror imagery, violence, adult language, heavy topic about cyber-bullying and other adult situations.

     

     

      Cyber-bullies, internet trolls, why do they exist? Why do some people cyber-bully like they have nothing else to do with their life? Well, as far as I can tell you; some do it out of fear of the real world, others do it out of revenge, as if they were bullied themselves. And that revenge would often corrupt them into taking out their anger on other users like this person right here.

     

      A certain individual named Jack Thomas, or as he's known throughout various social networks by his username, "JacktheCat." Now Jack was a 30 year old self centered, sadistic, yet disturbed little boy trapped in a man's body. He loved to use web sites like Youtube.com or DeviantART.com to write insensitive comments to other users for his own enjoyment. He would write pointless arguments on other user's reviews of movies, cartoons and videogames, thinking that they have weak opinions compared to him. You see, he was the son of an alcoholic, abusive father and a school principle mother who the two had divorced due to his father's horrible behavior towards the son.  As time went on, Jack became corrupted by his use of various social networks like DeviantArt, Facebook and Youtube.  He never showed a photo of himself, which I will admit, was the wise thing to do.  The icon he would put on his accounts were a screenshot of Tom the cat from an old Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

     

      Like his father, Jack had terrible anger issues which gave him little to no friends at all.  The only friends he had were two, seemingly weak minded jerks who would agree with anything that Jack said, Harold and Melvin. You see, he made friends with only guys that made him feel smart.       

     

      Now Harold was incredibly spoiled, compared to the Jack.  He always felt that he could he get what he wanted just by demanding it.  And he would often troll others out of boredom.  Whereas Mel joined the two, due to his insecurity of being...well dumb.  Of course he joined in to make himself feel special, and avoid being bullied himself.

     

      Often at times, the trio would meet at the Karl Straus Wine and Spirits Tavern, their favorite place to brag about how many people they've cyber bullied each week.         

     

      One evening at that said place, Harold told the two about a chain letter he had just received from an unknown user about a suicidal phantom that murders people who insult that said message. 

     

      The trio of course laughed the idea.

     

      "What a retarded idea," Jack laughed, "Next he'll be telling us that Freddy Krueger is the real deal."

     

     

      "You know what I think?" replied Harold, "I think we troll the shit outta 'em."

     

      "I don't know," said Mel concerned, "Wouldn't that like drive them to suicide?" 

     

      "Hey!" Jack exclaimed, "Are you gonna puss out on us, or something?"

     

      "Yeah," taunted Harold, "Are you? Huh? Huh?"

     

      To make matters worse, Harold flicked the poor guy in the head with his figure. 

     

      As you guessed, Melvin was the least insensitive member of the group.

     

      "N-no," he stuttered, defensively, "No I'm not."

     

      "Good," said the cruel Jack, "That's what I want to hear." 

     

      Now the three may have been online jerks since they were teenagers, but their of whom have ever driven a person to self harm.  Though Jack and Harold have posted some comments to a few individuals that they should kill themselves just for being gay, goth, emo, and of course trash talking their favorite things in movies or TV shows.

     

      That night, the three went home and Melvin had logged into his own account, under the username of HeartyTheRock, to read the chain letter that Harold mentioned earlier.  He followed the link to another user, with the "Deviant name" of "Starshake." 

     

      The chain letter said;

     

      ​ "WARNING!  This is not a joke!  Carry on reading!  Or you will die, even if you only looked at the word warning!  Once There was a teenage boy named Carl Gibson, he was 16 years old and he killed himself, because he was cyber bullied by a vicious individual named Skylar Cooper!​  He threatened the poor boy on Facebook to stay away from his ex girlfriend, or else Cooper would stab Carl in the face with his Swiss blade and burn his house down.  ​​Poor Carl was vulnerable enough to throw himself off the Golden Gate bridge and drown himself deep below.​  ​

     

      The cruel cyber bully was arrested, tried and sent on 8 months of rehabilitation​.  ​However, upon his release, Cooper was left all alone one night, on the 1st anniversary of Carl's death, while the mother of the rehabilitated boy, was off on a business meeting.  When she returned home, late that night, he was found, just as he threatened his suicidal victim​.  ​Stabbed in the face, with his house burned nearly to the ground!  ​​Some say that it was ex-girlfriend who did it to avenge his death, while others suspect Carl's parents for the same reason.  But this obviously is the work of the boy's spirit, unhappy about his tormentor's release.  Now every night, he returns to this letter and creeps every night into your bedroom, only if you are a cyber bully and murders you at midnight​.

     

      And their deaths would be covered with a suicide note on their own profile, before having their accounts deactivated. A few users for example, have been mentioned such as HateroftheStupids, and YouDontKnowRigby.  So whatever you do, NEVER INSULT THIS CHAIN LETTER."

     

     

      In response, the weak minded bully typed, "Hey, what's with all the hidden comments I see?  I thought you were open to approval."

     

      It was true, most the comments were hidden, probably from other internet troll responses in this case. 

     

      After several more harsh comments on other pages, Melvin went to bed.  He had enough bud light to help him sleep without a guilty conscious.  The cyber bully was sound asleep until he felt a strange chill passing through him.  He looked at his digital alarm clock and it was out.

     

     

        "What the fuck?," he said to himself. 

     

      He tried to flicker the lights, but that was out too.  Obviously the power went out   

     

      "Bully," said a wispy ghost like voice.

     

      "Who said that?" He said in a frightened voice.

     

        Melvin looked around, but all he could see was his room.   

     

      "Bully..."

     

        "Jack, Harry?  Is that you, guys?" 

     

      But there was no answer after that.  It could be a side effect of the alcohol he drank, or it could be some kind of intruder.  In a panic, Melvin pulled a Swiss blade knife out from his nightstand and jumped out of his bed.  As he tiptoed toward the door, something heavy knocked him down from behind and drop his knife!  He quickly turned around to see that it was computer screen that had somehow fallen from his desk. 

     

      "That's impossible," he thought.

     

      He still had enough strength to shove the screen off, but when he tried to pick up his knife, it had mysteriously vanished.  He picked himself up as fast as he could, and then shined a flashlight around his room, but still there was no sign of his only weapon of choice. 

     

      "Bully..." The voice said again.

     

      Frantically, Melvin busted his way out of his room, down the hallway, and through the living room.  But before he could make it for the front door, someone or something grabbed him by the hair.  He looked and could see of course nothing, but the interior, as he tried so hard to pull himself away from an unknown force. And then, he saw his own knife floating up to him in view.  Melvin struggled to pull the knife away, but it was too late!  For the knife pierced right into in his neck, and slit his throat!

     

        Meanwhile, in Harold's apartment, the next cyber bully alive, was also fast asleep in his room.  Hours earlier, he too wrote a nasty comment to the chain letter. 

     

      His comment was even worse than Melvin's, for he typed, "You are an incredibly shitty person, you know that?"

     

            And of course, he typed for hours trolling other people, until he dozed off from exhaustion.  Until he felt a strange chill, which woke him up as it did with Melvin.  And if that wasn't enough, he thought he heard a wispy voice calling his name from out of his room.  It was easy for him to hear, for the door was left open before he went to sleep.     

     

        "Harold..."

     

      "Who's there?" said Harold, "Mel, Jackie, is that you, out there?"

     

      He tried to switch his lamp on, but it seemed that his power was also out.

     

      "Harold..." said the voice again.

     

      It could be an intruder, so Harold picked up a baseball bat and a flashlight as he headed for the hallway.  He shined his flashlight around the walls, but all he saw were picture frames of friends and family members.  Just then, he heard heavy breathing coming in his direction. 

     

      "Alright Mr. Chain letter phantom," he said as he battered up ready for blow, "Come and get some." 

     

      Just the, he thought he saw a shadow of a skinny, yet soggy humanoid coming from behind.  He turned around as he swung his bat, at nothing.  Yes, nothing.  There was no person or any other life form in sight.  Suddenly, an invisible force seemed to have pulled by the shoulder him up into one wall, and then sent him slamming into the opposite side of the hallway.  Although he was slightly injured enough to drop his bat, Harold made a run for the front door, but tripped over his flashlight, which he also dropped in the fight.  Even though he had a chance to get back up again, the supposed phantom grabbed him by the collar and though him out the fragile glass window!  Poor Harold fell five stories down, screaming his lungs out, until he hit the roof of a car, parked along the sidewalk!  Dead.

     

        Hours earlier, at Jack's house, the last bully alive read the whole chain letter before midnight and here is how he wrote back to it,

     

      "Are you kidding me?  Why insult my intelligence when you could be insulting yours.  You should go throw yourself off a bridge, for believing in some story about a lame ass ghost.  That bitch got what she deserved anyway, you fag!"

     

      Of course, when midnight came, the same thing happened to him.  For he felt a cold breeze, like that of a fog bank, that gave him the chills.  The electricity was out, yes judging by the blank digital clock and lack of effect from his lamp.  The only source of light that was available was the full moonlight from his window.  But where did the chill come from, he wondered? 

     

      Suddenly, Jack thought he heard the sound of a strange voice.

     

      Jack..." the voice seemed to call out, eerily.

     

      He turned to look over his shoulder, and all he could see was the opened door outside his bedroom, which lead to a darkened hallway.  True, it started to send chills down his spine, but then he thought for a second it was just his imagination.

     

      "Jack..." the voice repeated.

     

      "Is that you, Mel?" 

     

      "Jack..." 

     

      Immediately, the man got up from his bed, and looked at the doorway again.  Still there was no sign of any person there.

     

      Using the moon as the obvious light source, Jack picked up his gun and a flashlight, as he followed the mysterious voice that seemed to be coming from the hallway.  Although he was armed, the poor soul took a few steps, in fear of this unknown intruder.

       

      As he made his way through the doorway, Jack felt his heart pounding like a drum, for even cold-hearted bullies like him, would hate to be alone in the dark like any other person.  To him, this felt like being in a horror film.  He shined his flashlight in front of him, but all he could see were several different picture frames of him, his family and his few friends at school.

     

     

      "I swear to God," he threatened, "If this is some kind of prank, I'm gonna--"

     

      Suddenly, he heard a crash of wood and glass shatter from right behind him! The frightened young man turned around quickly to find a portrait of his mother had fallen from the wall and the glass broken on to the floor.  Shocked and puzzled, Jack picked it up for a better look.  He quickly switched from fear to anger as he looked around.

     

      "Are you fucking--" 

     

          Before he could finish his sentence, several other picture frames tapped themselves like loose shutters on windows during a storm!  The young man flashed his light for a better look, to find no string of any kind.  Not even the tiniest bit of thread used for magic tricks.   

     

          Just then, Jack felt someone or something biting him in the back left shoulder, forcing the bully to shoot over that direction!  The bully no longer felt that minor injury, after that, so he turned to look for his attacker.  But he seemed to hit was the wall.  Before he could look even further, a force had somehow punched him right into the face, making him drop his gun and convince him that he was truly haunted! 

     

      Jack bolted through the door and ran down the hallway, through the living room, but by the time he went to the front door, it appeared to be stuck!  No matter how hard he tried to twist and turn the knob, Jack could not pull the door open.

     

      "Why, Jack?" said the phantom, "Why do you bully?  Why do you laugh at one's suicide?"

     

      "I DON'T KNOW," Jack exclaimed, "I just am, okay?  Now please, leave me alone!  I'm sorry!  I'M SORRY!"

     

      After that moment of panic, Jack was finally able to swing the door open.  He no longer felt the cold chill of the spirit, so he calmed down and closed the door back up again.  It seemed that the phantom had vanished, when all of a sudden, something wrapped itself around his neck!  It felt like someone was trying to strangle him with some sort of chord or a wire.  He tried to resist it, but the attacker seemed to be too strong for him.  It pulled tighter and tighter and tighter, as it lifted him up in mid air and choked him to death!

     

      Shortly afterward, the police arrived when the neighbors nearby reported the sounds of gunfire and the smashing and tapping of the picture frames.  Of course they were too late to save Jack, for they found him, hanging to a ceiling fan with a mouse chord for a noose.  His body was taken to the morgue, where the authorities also found teeth marks on the exact shoulder where he was supposedly bitten.  On that same night, the deaths of the other two bullies were also investigated thanks to tips of the neighbors near enough to hear incidents that took place. 

     

      But what really happened that night?  Were the three victims of their own delusion, or were they really murdered by the ghost of Carl Gibson?  If the supernatural is real, I would not be surprised to see what happens to the next cyber bully.