Me and a friend of mine (who I will call “H” for transcribing our exchanges) started chatting online, and got to sending each other increasingly funny online quizzes. You know those ones that tell you which member of a band or which Disney Princess or whatever else you are?
H: ok i found another one
H: its called what fast food restaurant are you
Me: And? Did you find out
H: idk i havent finished yet
Me: Alright send me the link
We went back and forth like this for a while; he’d keep looking for new quizzes, share his results, and I’d try them too. By the time I’d finished, he’d have another one ready. I got up to get some water, leaving my laptop on the couch. Once I’d come back he had, of course, sent me another link.
H: dude take a look at this
H: https://ͱa‡ⅎ⅄ͱbvcⅎmⅎa‡s⅄.com
I clicked the link, expecting another quiz. I was surprised, however, by the rather plain page that greeted me: white background, arial text and only the all-caps word “QUIZ” in bold at its top. Below it was a question: “What is your favorite color?” I picked “blue” from a selection of colors, and the next question appeared on-screen.
The first few I went through were relatively mundane. Things like whether I preferred cats or dogs, pepperoni or cheese pizza, etc.; nothing nonstandard for these quizzes.
I had just answered whether I was an introvert or extrovert when I noticed that the next question had a free response box. “What is your name?” it read.
Tentatively, I typed my first name in the box and pressed Enter. I have a common enough name that I didn’t feel too uncomfortable sharing it. The question following it, however, was even more bizzare. It was, again, free response, and this time said simply “Where do you live?” I tabbed out of the site to message H again.
Me: Why are the questions on this one so weird
I idled for a couple minutes but didn’t receive a response. Tiring of the wait, I returned to the quiz page. I reread the words. “Where do you live?”
I couldn’t move on without submitting an answer, so I just pressed space to leave the query blank before moving on. Unfortunately, this didn’t allow me to progress, red text appearing below the box telling me I had to input a valid location. I tried inputting a real location (“New York”) and the red text changed to say only “Incorrect.” I refreshed and reopened the page to no avail.
Me: It’s not letting me keep going
Me: Do you have any other ones this one kinda sucks
This time, H responded.
H: it gets good, I promise. just answer these ones.
Me: I don’t want to give this site where I live though
H: you’ll be fine. the payoff is worth it.
So I entered the name of the town I live in. Then, it allowed me to continue to the next question.
Me: Wtf how did it know that the answer I put in was correct??
Not receiving an immediate response, I looked at the next question. It was back to multiple choice with a binary yes or no option.
“Are you alone right now?”
Unsettled, I glanced around the room. I pressed no and tried to continue, but the next question wouldn’t load. I tried pressing yes instead and, to my dismay, I was able to advance.
Me: Okay this is getting really creepy
Me: I think I’m gonna stop now
H: keep going. just trust me please. i’m sure you’re almost at the end.
Me: Okay fine but if it gets any weirder I’m bailing
I read the question.
“Can I come inside?”
There were no options to select, only the text. Then I heard a sound, emanating from the front of my house. Knocking. My blood ran cold as the sound continued in short, sparse bursts.
Me: H what the fuck is this
H: ⅎmz⅄ͱⅎ‡oe⅄k ⅄sͱͱ‡chⅎ ͱⅎ‡dn⅄u⅄x
When I looked at my laptop again, the words on the screen had changed. No longer a question, but now a command.
“Let me in.”