Nightmare Fuel: The Big Tissue

         Asten Clarke          Assignment          4          28/05/2017

Nightmare Fuel: The Big Tissue

         When I'm bored, I sometimes find myself delving into the depths of the Internet, and in particular YouTube. I've always has the tendency to wind up on the 'weird side' of the world's most famous video site. My favourite genre on the site is creepy ads and public information films. Now I've been doing this for a while and nothing too bad has come of it. Sure, I've had a couple of sleepless nights, but nothing too bad. That was until a couple of weeks ago, when one video changed my life forever. I'm telling this story as a warning to other kids: if you come across this clip, do not watch it.
         My evening started out like any other. It was eight p.m. and I'd finished my homework for the night. As usual, I was bored, so I decided to fire up my laptop and surf the web. And once again I found myself going down that creepy rabbit hole known as YouTube. One of my favourite video creators, Creeps262, had uploaded a new video about a supposedly cursed Kleenex ad from the 1980s. The curse was that if you watched it, bad things would happen. This made me laugh. What bad things could a Kleenex ad possibly cause? An incurable case of the sneezes? Anyway, I noticed that they hadn't included the actual ad in the video. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it turned out there had been a very good reason for that.
         I realise I'm getting ahead of myself. So anyway, I naturally wanted to see this ad for myself. That was my first mistake. After a bit of digging I finally found the ad. It depicted a woman in white and a baby dressed as a demon. The music was haunting. It sent a shiver up my spine. But I couldn't stop watching it. For some reason I played it again and again and again. That was my second mistake. It wasn't like I was doing it consciously - at least not completely consciously; my finger just kept clicking the replay button.          But before I knew it, it was five to midnight.
         "Millie," Mum called up. "Time for bed."
         I closed down the computer, climbed into my bed and turned out the light on my night stand.
         And then it happened.
         I have a small TV in the corner of my room, which is fixed to the wall. Suddenly, at approximately 12.15am, the TV switched itself on. The Kleenex ad was on the screen. My heart hammered in my chest and I started to sweat. The creepy song started to play, really loudly. I wanted to get up and turn off the TV but I was frozen with fear. Was I having a nightmare? I pinched myself to make sure. Ouch. Nope. Still wide awake. After it was over I tried to go to sleep but I couldn't. After what felt like forever the song played again, this time without the video. It played over and over again all night long. I didn't know where it was coming from. Maybe I was imagining things? No, it all seemed too real. I'd never felt so scared before.
         The next day I went to school as usual, but it was so hard for me to concentrate. That creepy song was in my head all day, like an earworm. My friends sensed something was wrong, but I just lied and told them I was stressed about our upcoming exams. There was no way I could tell them the truth; they'd never believe me! There was only one person I could talk to about this: Creeps262.
         When I got home from school, I logged on to the computer and typed out a message to Creeps. "Hey," I said. "I need to talk to you about that video you uploaded last night."
         "You didn't go looking for the ad, did you?" came Creeps' reply.
         I was going to reply, "No..." but I didn't think they would believe me.
         "Look," Creeps said. "There's a reason I didn't put the ad in that video. Bad things happen after you watch it. There's no way I would put my subscribers through the horrible things that have happened to people."
         "What kind of things?" I asked.
         "Unspeakable things, believe me," they replied.
         My stomach flipped as I realised this was only the beginning of my nightmare. The video and the music were just the start.
         "So, what should I do now?" I said, starting to shake.
         Then Creeps disappeared before saying another word. I shuddered. I couldn't believe how stupid I was. Why did I have to go and watch a cursed video? I wondered what else was in store for me as I closed the laptop and climbed into bed.
         I managed to get to sleep that night, but of course my nightmares were plagued by the ad. When I woke in the middle of the night, sweating, I swore I could see the demon baby sitting at the end of my bed. Shortly after it had disappeared, the ad became playing on my TV again. It played over and over, becoming more distorted every time. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't.
         That was two weeks ago. I've been in a living hell since then. Every night gets worse and worse. I hope this serves as a warning for everyone reading this, to not go digging too deep into the rabbit hole of the Internet. I honestly don't know what's next for me, or if I'll survive this curse. It's too late for me. But you can save yourself.
         Be careful out there.