Red Room

She didn’t mean to stumble upon the website. It was never her intention, she was a well raised young lady. Always did as she was told, obedient and kindhearted. Never would she even dream of creeping around on the dark web. But the message she received piqued her interest.

“You’ve been invited to join The Red Room. Reply at your earliest convenience for further instructions.”

Of course she was curious, but she was also scared. Ignoring the message, she let it eat away at her through the day. Until the moment a second message came in from the same unknown number.

“Reply at your earliest possible convenience, Adrestia.”

She was shell shocked. At first, she’d assumed they had the wrong number. But somehow, they knew her name. The dam holding her back from responding had broken. Thoroughly intrigued, her fingers swiftly typed out an answer.

“Who is this?” Adrestia sent the message, wasting no time.

“Our identity is not important. You’ve been invited to join The Red Room. Please proceed to the following URL.”

A link to a website was attached. Hesitating, her thumb hovered over the hyperlink, many doubtful thoughts running through her mind. What if it was a prank? What if this link would give her phone a virus? What if this was actually dangerous?

But her curiosity got the best of her, still. “Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.” She sat down at her desk, deciding to pull up the website on her computer instead. As soon as she did so, a darkly themed site appeared on her screen.

At the top of the page, in large, bold letters was WELCOME TO THE RED ROOM.

Her hands began to shake as she scrolled, graphic images appearing with every click. It was somewhat of a forum, with anonymous posters on every page. However, this was no normal forum.

These posters were serial killers. Some still wanted and at large, some currently being investigated and some who've never been caught. One particularly gruesome post detailed the use of a torture method known as the Colombian Necktie.

Drea continued to click through the numerous posts until she stumbled upon a tab of the website.

LIVE RED ROOMS.

She clicked on the tab without a second thought, immediately entering a live chat room. On her screen was a lightly tanned male in a chair, clearly tied up. A tall man with a black ski mask on walked around him, twirling a knife in his hands. Adrestia muted her volume, fearing that the male's whimpers and pleas could be heard from outside her room. Looking on with interest, she watched as the man dragged the knife along various parts of the hostages body, watching the dark blood drip down his thighs and abdomen. She sat there for a half hour as the man was tortured, eventually plugging in her headphones so that she could hear his terrible screams.

The video ended soon after, the tanned adonis falling limp and pale in the chair. Her screen went black, leaving her to stare at her own reflection.

Adrestia studied her own face. A grin was set upon her lips, and there was a fire in her eyes like nothing she’d seen before. She picked up her phone, a message having come in.

“Would you like to join The Red Room?”

Without a moment of hesitation, she replied.

“Yes.”