That Which Rots (Part 1)

I’ve heard all about all of the little “games” from the internet, little rituals with beings that hunt you, games that people spread stories about, games that people get wishes for, I feel jealous of them, most of the time it’s just a prank, or if something does happen, at least they’ll more than likely survive. I find it annoying whenever I spot one of those clickbait videos, (PLAYING BLOODY MARY AT 3:00 AM!), because they mock the people who made these stories, or in my case, encounters.

My name is Jonah, but I prefer to be called Jon, and I am here to document my account of the ritual game known as “The Candles”

I guess I should start off by explaining what exactly Randy’s was back when it was open to the public. At first, it was originally just a small franchise on the verge of bankruptcy until it came to our small town to build a little amusement park with what little money they had left in a desperate attempt to stay in business, and for a while, the park was very successful, I even got a job as a security guard until it eventually shut down.

Of course, then the incident happened. You see, despite being a rather small company, Randy’s wanted to promote their image, and had a set of around ten rubber and fabric costumes of their mascot, Randy the Bear roaming around the park, even though they were disturbing… to say the least. They had these big, uncanny glass eyes under their rubber faces, and the costumes themselves had supports in them so that they could stand slightly taller than most of the adults, it was a wonder that any of the visitors actually let their kids near them. I was grateful that they at least tried to make them look a little goofy. They gave  I should probably mention that the costumes were put up after just a week, although the higher ups at Randy’s never tried to destroy them.

Then the incidents started happening.

Apparently, someone had managed to steal one of these costumes, and had begun luring children around the park to dark spaces, or areas where the cameras couldn’t see them. In just a week, more than ten children went missing, and in a month, almost fifty.

I remember that one fateful day when my parents decided to visit the park, bringing my little sister, Isabelle with them. At this point, I was forced to walk around inside the park to check areas that weren’t on the cameras, in case another child went missing in the park, so I was able to find them relatively quickly.

I still regret what happened. If I had been more focused, I could have saved her, I might have prevented all the pain and blame, but no.

My parents went off on their own, leaving me to watch my sister, and for a while, I was doing a good job. She went on the Ferris wheel, I got her some cotton candy, but then, I got a text. All it took was one look at my phone, and Isabelle was gone. When I noticed, I was frantic, panicking as I tried to find her, looking through the crowds.

To my horror, I saw it, just a few feet ahead of me, those stupid little ears with a bowler hat jammed between them, walking through the crowd, and slipping into a custodial shed. I ran after them, but when I got in there, it was too late. The costumed man was standing over her, a bloodied bat in hand, and a rag stuffed in her mouth. Blood coated the walls. I screamed, anger and pain filled my every being, and pulled the pistol I had gotten on the first day of the job onto them, firing a round into the costume.

The police were called only a few seconds later, and eventually, they were able to find the rest of the bodies, the park closed down, and I lost everything. I lost my job, I lost my sister, and while my parents promised that this wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t say that I felt the same way.

And then, I heard about the ritual.

all it took was a place you were tied to emotionally, four candles, and a vessel of some kind. All you had to do was light the candles, say a chant, and then extinguish all the candles and you would get a wish. At first, I was skeptical, but hope makes us do things we never thought we would do.

It took every ounce of bravery to work my way back to that damned place, hours of working through the skepticism and doubt, but eventually, I found myself standing inside of the abandoned and condemned place, vendor stalls were missing their tops, and had cracked and splintered wood, rides creaked and groaned and creaked as they swayed, stuck in a dangerous state of rusted disrepair, and overgrown grass and vines covered the floor like carpet. Hurriedly, I prepared the things needed for the ritual, but stopped. Originally, I was going to use an old doll for the vessel, but in the bag I brought were only the four white candles. I cursed at myself. I had come all this way, only to have forgotten the most important thing in the ritual.

unless…

I looked towards the main building, they kept most of the costumes and unused props inside when they weren’t being used. I remember that was where they kept the old Randy the Bear costumes.

I hesitated. Was I really going to do this? But my feet already started moving, and I already knew the answer was yes. I popped open the lock to the old building, all it took was a really good whack, and stepped inside. It wasn’t that hard to find the costumes, everything was listed alphabetically, and stored away neatly. The costumes, all ten of them, were hung on racks, forming a neat row.

slowly, I lowered one down, and found myself surprised at how heavy it was, it was a wonder anyone would be able to put one on, much less to lug one around the park, and the smell, it smelled like rotten eggs that had been left out in the sun, I almost gagged as I set up the candles, and dragged the old, ratty thing into the center of them. I managed to choke my way through the chant, which I won’t write down here for the sake of preventing anyone from doing the same, and…

nothing happened.

I sighed. I knew it was too good to be true, and slumped my way out of the building, but just as I started moving, I heard the voice, rough and deep, and impossibly distorted.

“What… do we have… here?”

It asked, and slowly, I turned around to see who was speaking.

It was like a shadow had been draped over a skeleton, with bright white teeth that formed a smile,  with a pair of small red flames flickering over the eyes.

“Of course. Another fool comes to gamble with their lives.”

I couldn’t move, I couldn’t stop staring, I just locked eyes with the thing as it moved around almost playfully around the warehouse, stopping around the costume.

I managed to stutter out a sentence, almost forcing it out of my throat.

“What the fuck?” I said, my voice trembling.

“What’s wrong, Jonas?” The thing croaked its voice crackled and cheerful

“I thought you wanted to play a game!”

“What?” I managed to say, more with confusion than fear.

The creature laughed, inspecting the costume, poking at its eyes and pulling at its mouth, almost as if looking for something, it turned to look at me, chuckling.

“Oh dear…” it said

“you’ve been terribly misinformed, haven’t you?”

“What do you want from me?” I asked.

“You didn’t really think you would get your wish by just extinguishing the candles, did you? No no no… you have to play a game.

why else would you need to bring me a vessel?”

“What game?” I shouted, frustrated.

“I already finished the ritual!”

the creature laughed, wildly, suddenly rushing forwards.

I lifted my arms to protect myself from the thing, only for it to continue speaking through the laughter.

“finished? FINISHED?! You’ve hardly begun, child!”

I sighed, lowering my arms.

“what do I have to do then?” I said.

the creature floated itself back towards the costume, weaving its way in and out of the suit as if it was made out of putty.

“Four candles.” It said

“I’ll keep each one hidden somewhere around this entire, what is it called, theme park? Find all four of them, put them out, and you’ll get your wish.”

“What’s the catch?” I asked, no longer afraid.

“The catch?”  it said, its voice deepening as its smile grew wider and its eyes began to shrink,

“The catch is that I’ll be hunting you, the entire time, sometimes in the vessel you chose, sometimes in another, but if I catch you, if I stop you, if you die…

I win the game.”

“What’s in it for you?” I questioned, a little bit more afraid.

“What does any demon want?” It asked,

“I want something that’s been tied to you since the day you were born. I want part of you much more valuable than anything else, something much more important than any physical organ you have…

isn’t it obvious, child? I want your soul.”

I gulped, my mouth now felt dry, and my head began to pound. Suddenly, the creature’s voice returned to normal, still deep and craggly, but much less disturbing, and slightly more cheerful.

“If you find all four candles, you must leave the park through any of the gates. Any other exit is cheating. After you are out, you must say my name, and I’ll grant you your wish.”

“Well,” I said, “what is your name?”

the creature sighed, almost playfully as it wheezed.

“So many questions, so many answers…

My name is lost to time, changed and contorted by human language, but I believe you know my name well.

I am ROT.

to be honest, I was going to kill you the moment you summoned me, but as I watched you closely, I saw your pain.

there’s nothing more delicious than human agony, and you are full of it. It would be a waste to kill you right away.

you know what?

I’m going to give you a five second head start before I begin to hunt. Five seconds to begin the search before I find you and tear you apart. Better start running, Jonah!”

and with that, its eyes extinguished, slowly slipping into the costume as it began to count. I watched on in horror.

“Five” it said, as the costume groaned and popped, features became more defined, and an eye popped out of its socket.

“Four” another eye popped out, tearing the rubber skin off with it, and its arm fell out of the socket,

“three”  it gasped out loudly as I began to run, its stomach now splitting open to reveal the costume was now filled with maggots and flesh,

“Two” the Rot sounded excited, and I could hear the sound of the hard plastic teeth of the costume cracking, and slowly, I hid behind a big wooden shelf, still able to see the transformation.

“ONE” The Rot yelled, its voice distorted and deafening, deep and loud. I watched as it rose up, the dislocated arm suddenly splitting in half and sliding down the bone, worms and maggots tightly stretched across from one piece of flesh to the other, holding it in place as The rot began to speak, its voice now ragged and broken, paused by the sound of coughing as bugs and grubs fell from its dead, rotting body.

“Let… the games… begin!”