Okay, so I guess this is a good place to post this. I looked online and couldn't find any specific communities that related to my current situation. I found a game, It's an emulator that I found when looking for (less than legal) versions of older SNES games. I was scrolling down the pages of google, searching. Though most of what I could find ran terribly on my old laptop. That was until I found "NormalGames.com" I tried to search the URL but it seems for some odd reason not to work. The only clear way of accessing the site is by finding the link on the original google pages. Now I'm no programmer but I assume that this isn't normal. Upon first opening the site I was greeted with two things; A logo (Which was just NormalGames.com in pink, bold, comic sans) and a play button in the center of the black screen.
I decide to click the play button after about five seconds of thinking it over. Luckily I had a fairly good, and up to date anti-virus that would most likely have alerted me if anything strange was going on with the link. No such alert appeared so I assumed it was safe to enter. The play button loaded and a title screen for a game came up, though it was no game I'd ever seen. There was no title, just a plain black background with three options. These options being Play, Load, and Exit respectively.
I decided to choose Play, once I did a small barely audible beeping sound occurred as the screen changed. The text "Stage-1" appeared now sporting a dark blue background. The level started, it seemed to be a basic platformer in which you control a simple looking orange smiling face. The ground was a light grey tint with a few small gaps to jump over. It was a very basic and bare bones level with not much going on, there were no background elements and the only sound was a slight rumble noise heard every time the main character would jump. Once I got to the last grey platform, the screen would again exit out and show the blue screen from before. This time it stated "Stage-2" and soon afterwards the next stage started.
Stage two introduced a new type of platform, it was orange much like the player and would move back and forth in a slow motion. Past this minor change it was still a very simple and straightforward level. I got to the end with no conflict, as I reached the end of the stage I awaited the blue screen that would transition to the next stage. Instead what was shown was a dark purple screen which read "Pop-Quiz-1". Once it loaded all that was on screen was a large version of the smiley face you play as in game, in front of the same purple background.
Large text appeared on screen under the face which said "It's time for a pop quiz!". It then transitioned to a question as a small black timer set at one minute ticked down in the corner. The sound of the timer ticking being the only sound present, the question asked "What color am I?". I assumed the "I" this game was referring to was the smiley face character. A text box appeared under the question, I typed in "Orange". The game text stated "Correct" before heading on to the next question.
The next question asked "What color is the sky?" at first I was a little confused. Did it mean the sky in game or the sky in real life? I bit the bullet and typed in "Blue". Luckily it was correct and I was able to move on. The game stated "Final question!" before loading the question. "Are you alone?" this last question sent a strange shiver down my spine. It felt wrong, It hadn't out right threatened me but it still didn't feel quite right. I wanted to say no, though at the same time I was alone. What would this game even do with that limited amount of information anyways? It's not like you can track a person down just by knowing they're alone. So I decided to be honest and typed "Yes", the timer was almost all the way out by now so luckily the game abruptly switched to the blue transition screen once more.
The screen read "Stage-4" (I suppose the pop quiz counted as stage three.) The level loaded in to the familiar scene, grey floors with no background objects in sight. I went through the level, it used the orange moving platforms from before as well as introducing a new type. A purple platform, which would periodically (usually every two or three seconds) have spikes poke out of the top. So now I would have to take timing into consideration, overall the platforms only gave me a small bit of trouble.
I got to the end and loaded into stage 5, this time something was different. It was subtle but I could distinctly hear a faint droning noise in the background. A new platform was also added, this was the red platform. It was a faster variant of the orange platform from before. I almost fell a couple times and almost got caught on a purple platform but I got through with no deaths. What came next was as stated by the game "Pop-Quiz-2" I was almost dreading this even if not consciously. As much as I didn't want to admit it, the way the last quiz ended left me feeling a bit unsettled especially with it getting late soon.
What appeared was the same as I had seen it before, the purple background with the orange smiley in the top center of the screen. This time there was no introduction, it simply sent me straight into the questions. The first question appeared and read "What was the color of the second platform introduced?" This question was a bit longer but I answered with "Purple". It did not confirm if it was correct or not, instead opting to go straight to the next question. "What was the name of the 4th president of the United States?" This question actually stumped me. Despite being american I know next to nothing about our presidents. I looked it up on my phone and answered "James Madison" (hope it doesn't mind me cheating just a bit).
It again went directly to the next question, "What is your name?". This was too far, I decided though since I have already put so much time into this game to see it through. I answered with a fake name "David" but just as I hit enter all the text on screen disappeared and the timer set to zero. The text "Don't lie to me." appeared before I was booted back to the title screen. This didn't feel right, but too a point it was almost intriguing. I noted that the droning noises present in the 5th level were now playing on the title screen. I hit the load button as the game started, with the transition screen of "Stage-7".
The level started, this time the droning noises had gotten louder still not too loud though. A new platform was introduced, something that had become the norm for every new platformer level. This time it was a yellow platform, which would slowly disappear if stood on for too long. The levels had been starting to ramp up in difficulty, it still was nothing too bad but I definitely had to take care and time my jumps correctly. I soon finished the level and went on to the 8th level which was labeled "Final" The new platform this time was a pink platform which would periodically shrink and grow in size. I definitely had some trouble with this platform, timing was always something I've had a hard time with. I almost died many times while playing, but soon finished and surprisingly was met with another transition screen.
The screen tinted that familiar dark purple of the quiz levels, this frightened me slightly due to my past experiences with these levels. Strangely the transition showed no title, instead it cut straight to the quiz screen. No text appeared for a couple of seconds until suddenly the screen read "Why?". The normal text box appeared, this time with no timer. This was a very open ended question, I had no idea what this was referring to. So I typed "I don't know", the text disappeared for a while almost making me think the game had crashed. But suddenly more text appeared "What is sentience?" the text box appeared once more. I had no idea how to respond, I once again typed "I don't know".
"Okay." It said finally, it was stuck on the screen like that for a while. I attempted to exit the tab but for some reason I couldn't. "Stop." It said as I repeatedly attempted to press the escape key. Once I had stopped a familiar question appeared on screen "Are you alone?" I didn't want to say yes but it seemed to somehow know when I was lying. I typed "Yes", it once again defaulted to "Okay." An image popped up on screen suddenly, It was blurry and dark but I could clearly see a house depicted in the center. It must have been taken from behind a tree or bush from the angle of the shot.
Soon after another picture was shown, a picture taken through my window. I could see the back of my own head, leaning down staring into my computer screen. I quickly turned my body to the window sat directly behind me. The blinds had been left cracked open which would give a clear view for anyone looking inside. I jumped up out of my chair and got the closest thing that could be used as a weapon, that being a metal pole that had once been a curtain rod. I reached into my pocket to grab my phone in order to dial 911, praying in my head that I had locked my door. I got through to an operator and told them my situation, stating that there was a person I did not know sneaking around my property. They said they would send somebody as fast as possible, to remain calm and get something to defend myself with. I looked once more at the computer screen and another picture was displayed. This time of my kitchen, inside my kitchen to be exact. I know the cliche of your heart dropping but I don't know how else to describe the feeling I felt in that very moment.
I dashed for a closet near me and hid inside, pole ready to swing at anything that opened the door. I heard nothing for a long while, though it may have felt longer in the moment. I started to hear faint footsteps entering the room I was in. They seemed almost relaxed, too relaxed for someone looking too cause harm. They slowly made a circle around the room then stopped abruptly in front of the closet door. My breathing stopped, it was as if a large pressure was being pushed against my chest. i could hear them tapping, lightly at first but soon the tapping turned to pounding. They seemed to be getting glee from of scaring the shit out of me.
I tried my best to stay quiet even though I knew that they knew I was in there. But suddenly like the melody sung by an angel, I heard cop sirens in the distance coming closer. Suddenly they stopped, I knew they heard them too. What occured after was them rushing to the other end of the room and breaking the window, presumably to get out from the back. Sadly they did, by the time the cops got in the person was long gone. The only evidence of them being there was the broken window. They found me in the closet and after some questioning drove me to my sisters house while they had a cop car scout my home for a few days.
I know I shouldn't have but I went looking for the website again. I couldn't find anything relating to it though, I'm sure it is still out there though. If only you're willing to look hard enough...