The Extra by N.D. Graveheart from the DEATHLY AFRAID Collection

Artwork by Breanna Knoth

When he awoke, he was bombarded by many questions through his phone. “What’s wrong with you?” or “Are you feeling sane lately?” But the most harmful comments arose from his family and closest friends: “Do you need help?”

Did he need help? The cause of all the questions was finally revealed when someone shared a link. Clicking it, the link led to a video of himself. Disturbed and uneasy. A flicking of the tongue, snaps of the wrists and twitches of his head. He spoke in a garbled babble about unhinged things.

Even he could not recognize himself from the video.  

Yet, there it was for the public view. The attention gathered to it was minimal, but significant enough for those closest to him to view. That day, he requested the video’s removal from the site in question.

While it was eventually removed, another replaced it soon after. The same as before, on a channel he had never created, featuring him screaming and mumbling underneath an overhead lamplight in a room he had never visited.

Every week, a new video would reach the public, gaining more traction than the last. Then, each new day, he’d request its removal and ask for the channel to be taken down. But one night, he happened to wake up in a room he had never seen before.

And he witnessed himself, holding a camera, some pliers, and directing: “Let’s begin.”

-The Extra by N.D. Graveheart from the DEATHLY AFRAID Collection