It was one of those days, the ones where nothing had gone right. You know those days, your at work and someone eats your lunch, and then when you go to Mcdonalds, they’re out of patties, and when you finally get home to eat something, you remember that you forgot to go shopping. Yeah, well it was one of those days, except it was a follow-up to a month of those days. Getting fired, losing your girlfriend, and totaling your car all in one month tends to demoralize you.
So I was parousing Google, Reddit, Instagram, the like, and I saw a stereotipical, “Click here to get to the dark web” post on a sketchy subreddit. Naturally I clicked on it, I’ve listened to dozens of those darkweb Creepypastas, thought I’d find some weird distraction. Instead I was hit with dozens of ridiculous ads for penis enlargment pills, hot girls, and Illegal attatchments. After hours of mindless searching, I found something that looked worth the time it took to type. The website had no description, the only text was the link which had been typed in red letters “Death Race”. I started to wonder what this could be for. Some kind of illegal racing, maybe? Or some Neo-Nazi propoganda site? My finger itched while it lay on the mouse, I don’t know if it was in anticipation, or something else? At the time I was simply excited to have found something that wasn’t a shitty advert.
I clicked the link, and what came up was surpising to say the least. Instead of a crazy website with link after crazy link and video, there was a black backdrop with small red text in the middle of the screen. “Want cash? How does 100k sound? To join the race against time, click here”. I was a little confused, “Race against time”, I mused to myself, confounded by the wording. It was that moment the gravity of what was typed hit me, one hundred thousand dollars? For some silly game on the dark web? It seemed sketchy, but in my angry, vunerable state, I didn’t care. A stroke of luck was all this was to me, so in my carelessness, I did as the text said. As soon as I clicked, the text disappeared… and nothing happened. For a few silent moments, I sat there, staring intently at the black screen.
Then text began to appear near the middle of the screen, not in the quick droning fashion of a computer engine… no, like a human being, sitting and typing in response to my action. The text that slowly scrawled over my moniter was written as such, “Thank you for your participation in Death Race, the race against time. You will have 30 minutes to prepare, and 3 hours to survive. You’ll be against ‘Happy Day’ for your run, as you haven’t had one in quite a while ;)”. My excited disposition sank as fast as my heart while I read the new text. “Survive?”, I spoke aloud to no one, or I thought no one, as a few moments after I spoke new text began to roll across my screen, “Yes, survive. You might want to leave, Happy will be on his way. You won’t want to be there when he arrives :)”. I sat frozen to my chair, I was awestricken and confused, but I didn’t want to ask any further of the computer. After a few moments I realized, someone could be coming to kill me… and I have to avoid them for 3 whole hours. New text sprung to the screen, “Time: 25 minutes. bid added. Current total: 150k.” The words stung my mind. Bid? People are bidding on my chances of survival? I felt nausea build up in my body, I also felt panic. I had wasted five minutes sitting in the dark. Then I felt a surge of glee when I remembered, I can just call the police. I pulled out my phone and began to type in the three familiar numbers, 91- the text popped up on the screen and flashed a warning, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you ×_×”.
At this point I had hung up the phone and ran down the stairs of my apartment. I rushed out the door in a panic. Then I felt my phone ding in my pocket as the cold air of the night hit my face. The screen was simply black with red text in the center, “Time: 20 minutes. Bids added. Current total: 225k. You seem to be a crowd favorite, keep up the good work.” It was all happening so quickly, was it a joke? Some sick prank a basement dwelling weirdo was pulling on me? Then I saw a white plastic mask with a yellow smiley face imprinted on it. The mask was atop a white suit covered in multicolored paint splotches. I saw the man standing a hundred feet from me, emotionless other than the facade of glee plastered on his mask.
My heart fell to my stomach as I realized how real my predicament was, how real the man ahead of me was, and how real the number “14” that was sat on my screen was. I immedietly bolted to my rental car, but before I could reach the chariot of life ahead of me, I noticed a gray liquid streaming out under my car. Brake fluid. “Dammit!”, I yelled out. “Watch it, Happy doesn’t like curse words”, my screen displayed that line, I almost laughed out loud. The adrenaline running through my veins mixed with the obvious comedy for a crowd thats here to watch me perish was sickly funny. I thought of the next best thing I could do, and started running towards town. Once I slowed down I glanced towards my phone, “Time: 3 minutes. Bids added. Current Total: 305k.” It was around 7:36 when the clock started, and the streetlights had since come on to balance out the onset darkness. I was almost into town when I felt a buzz in my hand, “Are you ready? 10, 9, 8…” I looked away and started sprinting, the buzz coming and going rythmicly. Buzz, buzz, buzz. Until nothing. The buzz was nerve racking, but the lack thereof was worse, it was so much worse. The buzz protected me, it was my imaginary shield for this awful nightmare. And it was gone.
I felt tears stinging my eyes as I turned around. I saw the mask on the edge of a halo of light coming from a streetlamp, and then it was gone. I felt the warm tears roll down my face, this was like a horror movie, but I was the idiot that was doing the dumb tropes for a bunch of richer idiots to watch. I then saw a word shining in the dark that made me happier than any word before it, Shell. I ran to the gas station like a beacon in the dark. I saw a dark blue truck parked next to a man, just finishing pumping his gas. I came to a skidding stop a few feet away from the man, panting, as suprise washed over his face. “Goodness, you alright boy? Look like you seen the devil himself? You need a doctor or somethin’?”, I could barely hear him as my heart thumped in my ears. Through laboured breaths I puffed out, “Help… trying to- hes going to-“. “Now hold on there boy, calm down. Who’s goin to what?”. “He’s going to kill me!” Upon looking up from my hunched stature having regained most of my breath, I finally looked at the man again. He seemed to be staring in shock at me… staring alittle to long. Our gazes sifted down together, having noticed a growing stain of crimson on his white shirt with a small, yellow dot poking through. As I looked to his face, I saw blood trickle from his lip as he crumpled to the pavement.
Behind where the now dead man stood was the happiest face I’d ever seen, now speckled with blood. In his hand, a long bowie knife once yellow with smilely faces along it, now coated in a viscous layer of red. I ran around the pump as the man walked briskly after me, I saw in the open door of the truck that the keys were still stuck in the ignition. As he followed after me I ran to the door; I jumped into the seat and turned the keys. The roar of the engine coming to life gave me a small amount of solice, but as I reached for the door I felt a burning pain shoot up my arm as I turned to see the bowie knife stuck fully through my forearm and that horrid face stuck in place. His left arm reached for the door and his adjacent leg came up to the step. As fast as I could I threw the truck into drive and slammed my foot on the gas. Only his hand had made it to the door while both of his feet skid against the asphalt. I turned sharply onto the main road, gritting my teeth against the pain. I turned over to see him pull himself closer to the opening, the door flapping almost closed. I kicked my leg at the door, wrenching the handle from the man’s grasp. I stared down towards where I assumed his eyes were, feeling them behind the fake ones burrowing into me. The knife came painfully out of my arm, sending a torrent of blood onto the road and door alike as I saw the man roll on the asphalt. “What the Hell, what the Hell!”, I screamed to myself looking at the gaping wound in my arm.
After about half an hour of driving, with the speedometer near maxing out, I pulled over on the side of the long stretch of road I had found myself on, barely concious. I pulled off my belt wrapped it about my steadily leaking arm and pulled it taught. Then I looked around for a few seconds, my eyes landed on the glove box. My unhindered right hand found its way to the button, and with a subtle click my salvation was revealed. “I don’t know where you are dead guy, but bless you”, I spoke as I pulled out the small first-aid kit. The gauze was rough, but It stopped the bleeding. As I went to put the kit back, I saw my godsend.
Holstered in the top of the glove box was a pistol. Holding the firm grip in my hand gave me more confidence than anything in my life. I suddenly remebered the phone in my pocket and went to look at the screen, “Time: 2 Hours 6 minutes. Bids added. Current total: 535k.” I scoffed to myself, realizing there must be some kind of drone team or film crew capturing everything. After that realization, I began to pull onto the roadway, with my middle finger held high in the air. I was pushing around 25 over the speed limit when I saw headlights boring into my rear view. My hair pricked up as I laid onto the gas. Then a piercing wail broke out… and I saw the flashing blue and red lights.
The hardwired reaction to being pulled over had my nerves on end, but as I remembered my situation, relief flowed through me. I pulled over as fast as I could. As I saw the officer step out of his car, I remembered the gun in my hands and quickly reholstered it in the glove box. The officer arrived at my window, “Now son”, he readjusted the toothpick in his mouth under dark aviator glasses, (Why he was wearing them at this time of night, I still don’t know.) “Why in the Hell are you drivin’ 80 in a 55 at this time of night?” The dark glasses stared inquisitivly toward me. “Sir, you need to listen to me. Theres this man, and this- this game, and he’s trying to kill me.” …He look at me for a moment, “Son… what kinda drugs does it take for a man to say that?” I stared at the officer, a little shocked, but honestly after some reflection it was a rational conclusion to reach. “I just mean that I- well I know it sounds ridic-“, “Listen up boy, I’m gonna walk over to my car, grab myself a breathalyzer, and moesy on back here. Now if you can pass that little test you can get on out of here.” He started to turn before I could say any more, when something caught his attention.
I saw the officer’s brow furrow under his hat as he stepped back. “Now son”, he spoke calmly while reaching for his hip, “Could you please step out of the truck.” I looked where the aviators were pointed, seeing a dried splash of my blood on the car door. As I reached for the handle, I babbled on to the the wall that was the officer about the man and how the blood was my own. The gun was lowering to the ground as I started making more sense, the officer sighed while holstering his sidearm, “Alright son, we need to get you to a hospital, I’m not quite sure you’re drugged out of you’re mind. I’d cuff you, but”, he guestured to my semi-soaked bandages, “You aren’t doin’ much in that state.” I felt safer now, away from the masked killer and instead with this steady sheriff. Once I was in the back of the officer’s car I saw him turn to something he had heard, his hand dropping to his hip once more. I could hear the proccedings muffled from my place in the car.
As the officer shouted out at something, he leveled his revolver at said something. He loosed four shots, bringing my prior fear flooding back. In a moment I saw something flash for a moment in the dark as the life of the officer splattered onto the window from the yellow blade protruding from his throat. I screamed out in the cage I was now trapped in, tears stinging my eyes. The smiling visage was slowly revaling itself in the dull cast of the headlights. I turned without thinking to the window and kicked out, hearing the muffled sound of steel sliding through cartalidge and flesh. The window stood firm as I turned to see the blood wiped onto the white sleeve, the crimson contrasting the bright colors splashed on the suit. I kicked again, my heart leapt at the cracking sound that followed, it fell when I heard the door click. My final effort sent glass flying out from the door, I scrambled through cutting my hands on the destroyed window.
The victory was short lived as I saw the mask appear with the red glow of brake lights, highlighting the already dripping blade. I stood and dashed to the truck, ran to the passenger side door and swung it open, grabbing for the glove box. I got it open before I felt an Iron grip on my shoulder pulling me to the ground. I hit the ground and saw the mask as a knee collided with my chest and my hair was snatched up. The gleam of the blade inched up, ready to arc into my chest. My feet flew up without prompting, pulling the door closed with every ounce of my strength, slamming it against the back of the mask. As the grinning face stumbled away I finally grabbed my savior in the glove box. Turning the gun, aiming center mass, and firing off five rounds. Every slug of lead death slammed into the suit, leaving smoking holes in the jacket. As I saw the figure fall to the ground I looked up with my hands on my face, gun still whiteknuckled in my right.
Taking a few seconds, I felt a familiar, wretched buzz from my pocket. When my hand reach to my phone and slid it out, my eyes settled on the place where the smile had laid. A prick of sweat came as I saw no blood where it had been. I hurridly looked to my phone. “Time: 1 hour 22 minutes. Bids added. Current total: 2.6 million. Keep it up champ, they love ya : )”. My heart broke at the time, but quickend at the sight of 2.6 million. “Million?”, I spoke softly, before being torn from my feet. My body slammed into the asphalt, as I dropped my phone and fired off panic shots. I looked to see a stained, white-gloved hand wrapped around my ankle drawing me into the black underneath of the truck. I started to aim when out of the dark flashed the yellow razor, skewering my leg just like it had my arm. Hot pain shot up it as warm blood spat out in turn, through the firey sting I sent another round out with a bang. In the flash I saw the visage snap back and slam into the bottom of the truck. With that the blade slid out of my leg and receded back into the darkness. I went to fire again when I heard a click… the mag was empty.
I remembered the officer, more importantly his revolver, by his car. I limped towards the car, blood staining my bandages and trailing from my right calf. I reached down for the gun and swung around. A fist intercepted my turn as I accidentally fired a shot. I slammed down onto the hood, reached up to grab the deadly blade. As I struggled to keep the blade away from my heart, I stared into the smile with a new black mark on the top of the mask. As the yellow tip inched closer, I forced the barrel of the revolver onto the visages palm, smiled, and sqeezed the trigger. Blood and fingers sprayed into the air as the knife clattered onto the hood. I kicked the killer off and to the ground, still cradling the destroyed hand. I found the revolver, aiming it at Happy’s neck, and as I pulled back the trigger, I heard a familiar click. The gun fell from my grasp as I began to laugh histerically, It had run out of ammunition. My laughter rang out as my fingers slid around the handle of the knife, my mad chuckles slid past my teeth as the blade slid underneath the mask. I pulled the face off to reveal a man with black hair and a smile carved into his mouth, this brought back my laughter in bouts. The buzzing of my phone snapped me out of the mad cackling, however, as I looked to the single red word, “Congratulations”.
I sit here, sharing my story, typing it out because I want everyone to know that Death Race changed my life. The prize money has me living well situated, I even got a job with all that new confidence it earned me. Speaking of that, I don’t want to be late. I just want people to know that it can change their lives too, if you ever see a red link that says Death Race, remeber to click on it. And when you do, I’ll put on my mask, I’ll sharpen my blade, and I’ll make sure you have an oh-so-happy day. Just remember to smile, you’re on camera.