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Sophie had nearly cried herself to sleep before Jenny went to check on her.
Jenny walked into the basement, smirking. “Are you winning, Sophie?”
As soon as she saw her, she frowned. Sophie had her head down in her arms on the arcade cabinet. Her shoulders were shaking, and Jenny knew immediately that she was crying.
“Sophie?”
Sophie kept sobbing, not looking up at Jenny. This was the first time in a while she felt truly terrified. She didn’t know what to think of this. Sobs painfully racked her body, only making her cry even more.
Jenny walked over to her, sitting down next to her and rubbing her back.
The game had gone back to the title screen, the music being the only other sound in the room, besides the air conditioning.
The music only made Sophie more frustrated. She slammed her fist on the console.
“Ok, Sophie, don’t do that. Please don’t do that.”
“The fucking music.” She sobbed angrily. “It’s driving me nuts.”
“Okay. Hold on. Let’s go back to the room.”
Jenny crouched down next to her, allowing Sophie to climb onto Jenny’s back.
They received some weird looks as they passed through the hallways, all of which were shot down by Jenny’s glare. She wasn’t one to usually get angry, unlike Sophie, but when she did, it wasn’t pleasant.
When they made it back to the room, Jenny set Sophie down on the bed.
“Why don’t you go shower? We could talk after that, yeah?” Jenny suggested.
Sophie nodded. She got up, grabbed a towel, and walked into the bathroom, leaving Jenny to her thoughts.
Jenny felt horrible.
She thought the glitches were freaky, but she didn’t think they’d scare Sophie that much. She was usually the one getting scared. Every time a new horror movie came out, Sophie would drag Jenny to the theater to watch it. She’d be eating popcorn, watching with a small smile, while Jenny would be hiding her face in her sweater.
But if those glitches were enough to scare Sophie, and not Jenny, then there was something missing.
Sophie eventually made it out of the shower, dried her hair, and got changed.
She sat down next to Jenny and stared at the wall blankly.
Jenny sat up and hugged her.
“What happened, Sophie?” She asked.
Sophie swallowed thickly. “The game…It said m-my name. My family was there…Mom…”
Sophie could barely speak. Her voice kept breaking, and she was breathing faster than usual.
“Sophie, try to calm down, please, take a deep breath.”
Sophie did as Jenny asked, forcing her breath to slow down so she could at least speak.
Jenny cupped her cheek, brushing a tear away with her thumb. “Is everything okay?"
Sophie started crying again. “…no.”
"Oh god, alright uh, try to tell me what happened."
Sophie sniffled. “I was...I was playing the game okav?? It was fun and then…” She paused.
“…and then what?”
“…Jesus, I-“
“Sophie, I’m trying to help you, but I can’t if you don’t tell me what happened.” Jenny said desperately.
Sophie was silent, biting her knuckle to stop herself from crying.
“Sophie, please.”
Sophie took a deep breath. “My family. I haven’t seen them in years. My mom disappeared one day, so did my father. It’s been a touchy subject ever since.”
“Sophie…I-I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“The creepy part is, I saw them again.”
Jenny’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”
“I saw my mom, then…then there was screaming, I could recognize it was her voice, who else could it be?”
“Oh god.”
“Then I saw my siblings. I don’t think they’re gone, Jenny. I don’t think they’re gone.”
Jenny couldn’t find the right words to say to that. “Sophie, I—“
“You don’t believe me?” Sophie asked.
“No, Sophie—“
“You don’t believe me.” Sophie said, staring at her feet.
“Hey, don’t say—“
“You think I’m making this up, d-don’t you?”
“Sophie, no, I believe you. I mean it.”
Sophie sniffled. “Really?”
“Of course I do.”
“Oh…sorry.”
“Hey, don’t be. We’ll figure this out. Can you remember anything else about your family?”
“No.”
“Do you want to remember?”
“Y-yes.”
"Okay, god, alright, it's alright. We'll figure it out, We're gonna pull through, alright? I'm gonna help you.”
Sophie nodded. “Thanks Jenny.”
“Of course, Sophie. Come here.”
She pulled Sophie into her arms. “We’re gonna figure this out Sophie, I promise.” She whispered.
As Sophie drifted off to sleep, she heard Jenny whisper again.
“I promise…”