DECEIVING SOUL

There are monsters of all kinds in this life that lurk in the dark. All in various shapes and sizes.
Some are born into circumstances that make them see killing as the only thing they know to do, others have no free will of their own.
But there are those more sinister who revel in the idea of pain, to dominate over someone else by any means necessary. They have no boundaries, no rules on who to kill and who not to kill. They are the worst this life has to offer, and they can be from anywhere.
It is said that in the past, a beast not of this world became aware of those who live in it. It flew across the stars for one purpose alone. To inflict as much pain and despair to anyone he comes across.
It took many different shapes and forms throughout countless years, honing in on the prey that he enjoyed to hunt the most. Those who cannot fend for themselves, those who can be tricked into causing their own demise by his hands.
Modern times have forced him to adapt once more into something that can lure the innocent in. He saw what people flocked to, and chose to imitate what could fetch him the most souls. So he would bastardize it as a means to his ends.

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Up on a hill, there was a small house that was inhabited by only two residents. The scraggly, rough looking man of the house is known as Jonathan. He has a small, innocent daughter by the name of Katie.
Jonathan had lost his wife years ago shortly after she gave birth to their child, so he was to raise her all by himself. He had worked day and night to make sure that she is able to have a peaceful future despite her circumstances. Any chance Jon would get, he spent time with his daughter. Whether it be playing along with her and her dolls, cooking simple pastries, and played games with her on the family computer.
He had done all he could to make sure things would stay in order, but it was not meant to be.
For Katie’s birthday, he bought her several gifts. One of these gifts was a CD, which he burned a package of games into.
Unbeknownst to him however, the monster had found his way into one of these games. Noticing what the other games in the package were like, he changed his accordingly to blend in best.
Katie adored the gifts her father gave to her. Particularly the CD, as she would spend a lot of time on the computer playing the games in it. Jon grew a bit concerned with how much time she was spending, as it seemed to grow more with each passing day. Her joy also dissipated into a more monotone expression, seemingly focused at all points.
“Hey hun, it’s late. You need to go to bed so you can go to school tomorrow! The CD won’t be going anywhere, so wrap it up and get some rest” Jonathan said.
Katie, still focusing on her game said “I will dad, Just one more level and I am off to bed.” Jonathan was puzzled, but nodded. He was like that at her age, so it’s a feeling he understood. Jon took a look at what she was playing.
She was controlling a small, light blue animal with large quills and starry eyes. His red shoes were adorn with stickers and bows on the back of his ankles. He had a larger, rainbow bow on his neck. His gloves had star symbols on the back of his palms, which were topped off with his yellow and pink bracelets. He was running around at blitzing speed, running around in a colorful temple gleaming with riches.
Jonathan pointed at him and asked his daughter “Is that supposed to be Sonic?”. Katie, who was still entirely focused on the game, nodded her head. The father was confused, as he remembered what Sonic looked like. But he didn’t recall him looking like that.
He looked at Katie and said, "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you if you aren't in bed soon. I’ll be heading to bed early myself, your dad has a big day of work tomorrow! Good night Katie.”
His daughter looked back at him, finally staring away from her game, and said “Good night dad! I promise I’ll go to bed soon.”
And with that, Jonathan headed off to rest. Unaware that his daughter spoke the last words of her life to him.

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Jonathan awoke the next day, and proceeded with his usual morning routine. Brushing his teeth, taking his bath, changing to his work clothes. He was preparing breakfast for him and Katie, when he went to her room to check in on her.
“Rise and shine! I hope you didn’t go to bed late, we have a big day today!” Jonathan gleamed with his words.
But, Katie wasn’t in her room.
Jonathan went to where the family computer was, and she wasn’t there either.
He went looking all around the house, but she wasn’t anywhere to be found.
His worry and dread only grew more severe as he looked frantically around, checking spots multiple times to see where she had gone.
When it became clear that Katie was nowhere to be found, Jonathan feared the worst. He called the authorities frantically to report that his daughter had been missing from his home.
They were of no help either, unable to even get a small idea of where she could have gone.
In a single night, Jonathan lost the most important thing in his life. He was already robbed of his love, and now he was robbed of his child.
He fell into a deep, deep depressive state. Not willing to leave the house, eating very rarely, and mostly confiding to his bed.
Everything he had done was for nothing, he had no reason to carry on anymore. All that awaited him was a lonely end to his days. Which will seem to come sooner rather than later.
He spent most of his days looking over the items that belonged to Katie and reminiscing about the times they had. All of the memories which seem so distant now.
One day, after a month of Katie’s disappearance, Jonathan booted up the family computer. He quickly realized that the CD he gave to Katie was still inside.
He looked through the games that it had. Unicorn games, Barbie games, all things that she loved.
He noticed one file in particular that stood out from the rest.
SweetDreams.exe
Unlike the other games which were contained in folders, this one was left out in the open.
Jonathan booted up to see what it was, only to see the same small hedgehog he saw his daughter last play with on the screen. Standing in a white void.
It smiled, and beckoned at Jonathan.
The hedgehog looked to his right, and the game world slowly faded in.
Everything that Jon remembered about Sonic seemed to be somewhat in place, although there were some key differences.
Green Hill was filled with pastel colors, appearing more innocent, and childish in tone. Rainbows filled the sky overhead, the sun was smiling, and so were the flowers.
Very quickly he learned as well that the game was MUCH harder then he initially remembered. Due to the hedgehog’s small size and speed, he outruns the screen a lot. Leading to him crashing into a lot more things.
The Badniks that were littered around the stages looked much less threatening and more cheerful, with them also being adorned in various stickers. In fact, Jon noticed that the animals which would burst out of them seemed visibly saddened after the hedgehog freed them.
Getting to the end of the first zone was much more difficult than anticipated, and Jon questioned how his daughter was able to play this for so long.
Expecting Robotnik, Jon was surprised to see that he was replaced with a small boy in pajamas, wearing an oversized night-cap that reached to his feet and glasses that covered up his eyes.
He was riding a barely operable flying ship, with lots of wires being heavily exposed. It seems that he was caught off-guard before he could complete his machine.
In contrast to the rest of the game, the duel against the boy was less of a fight and more of a curbstomp. The hedgehog made quick work of the ship, and destroyed it completely by rolling straight through the center. Causing the whole ship to explode and the boy to be flown high up in the air, only to come crashing down.
An audible CRACK was heard when the boy fell, as he broke his left arm in the fall while being badly burnt due to the explosion. He jumped out of the scene in tears, hurt but living to see another day.
Jonathan was very confused and concerned by all of this. Despite how the game presents itself, its clear that whoever he is controlling is making things actively worse for every other character in the game. He inflicts misery and pain onto anyone else, all with a smile.
The creature looked at the screen again, and spoke
“What’s with the look Mr. Jonathan? Katie and I had a lot of fun in our adventures, It’s not as bad as it seems! I think you should keep playing in memory of her… Or do you not love your daughter anymore?”
Jonathan was dumbfounded and at a loss of words. Not only did this thing know his name, but it knew of Katie and her passing. Mocking his hesitation as a sign of his weakening love for his daughter.
“Struck a nerve did I? Your face says it all! Which tells me that you really DON’T love her after all. What a shame too… I could have told you where she went.” the creature taunted.
“...I wish to continue.” Jonathan said somberly
“What was that? You need to speak up, I can’t hear you!”
“I SAID I WISH TO CONTINUE” bellowed out Jonathan, his rage now clouding his judgment.
“Woah! Calm down there Johnny-boy, I’ll tell you all that I know. Just play with me a little while longer!” grinned the hedgehog. “Don’t think of doing anything stupid though, or I will make you regret it.”
Jonathan nodded.

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Jonathan continued on with the game, adapting to the difficulty the game set its levels in and making rapid progress.
Anything that was of concern from the game is not an issue, he had to figure out what this thing knows about the whereabouts of his daughter.
His rage was reflected in the game, as anything in his way would be shown no mercy.
He rushes through the waters of Labyrinth Zone and various special zones, making it to the end of Marble Zone with 4 emeralds in his hands.
Readying himself for what awaited him next, he was caught off guard by an “Intermission Zone”
The hedgehog held up the 4 emeralds that were obtained, and texted appeared behind him saying “Halfway there, Great Job Jon!”
The screen faded to black, with one word appearing in the darkness
RUN
Confused, Jonathan tried to press random keys on his computer to make the message go away. But to no avail.
Jonathan looked up from his computer, and saw that very same text now surrounding him. He tried to place his hand on one of the messages, only for his index finger to be shredded down to its bone, and all of his other fingers to be severely cut to his muscles. Causing him to scream in pain.
Blood gushed out of his right hand, drenching his clothes and the computer in it.
Jonathan looked around, and saw the floating text be replaced with two words
TOO SLOW
As Jonathan attempted to make a run out of his house, his left leg was caught by a massive claw. Ripping through the flesh and causing him to collapse on the floor, shouting in pain.
The impact also made the bleeding on his right hand worse, as his other fingers were completely broken as well.
Jonathan looked behind him, with tears in his eyes.
What awaited his eyes was a beast in black, its purple eyes gazing back at him while it chewed a piece of Jonathan’s leg flesh in between its serrated teeth. Its arms were as big as Jonathan himself, and pulsated violently. The thrill of the hunt was coursing through its veins, as it finally had their prey in sight.
In one quick movement, The beast lunged at Jonathan, biting his face and ripping it to oblivion while holding him down with his claws. Jon let out blood curdling screams as he felt his eyes be ripped from their sockets. His bones jagged into his flesh as the beast yanked the tongue out of Jonathan's mouth, his screams only growing louder which only incentivized the beast even more to continue its assault.
Its massive claws broke the arms of Jonathan as it pinned him down, writing in pain and not being able to see. Almost completely detaching them from his torso all together, as the flesh ripped apart.
Jonathan squirmed, but eventually, he would succumb to his injuries. Lying in a pool of his blood and meat, he was beyond recognition.
The beast had one more thing to do, as it used his claws to rip Jonathan’s chest completely open.
With his prey dead, he reverted back to his hedgehog form and rummaged around Jonathan’s chest.
“It has to be here somewhere… Aha!”
He grabbed Jonathan’s heart, and ripped out his chest. Holding it up as his trophy for his successful kill.
“At least you will be able to reunite with your daughter Jonathan… Nah who am I kidding, his soul will probably wander a dark void of nothingness for all eternity!”
With his hunt now complete, he returns to his disc. Leaving behind a broken house of blood and shattered dreams. Another set of victims in his never ending gory quest. No remorse, no guilt in destroying a family.
Authorities eventually returned to Jonathan’s home after he was not seen at his job for weeks, only to find a horrific scene of debauchery.
Having no other family to give what could be salvaged out of the home, they sold most belongings of Jonathan and Katie. Including the disc.
It’s still out there, waiting for its next victims to deceive into their own deaths by his hands.