Red Light, Green Light

I come from a shitty little town with not much to do. The best thing about it is the 'you are now leaving' sign. Unemployment and drinking problems are rife. I'm telling you this so you can appreciate that me and my friends were typical dumb teenagers who were also bored and that's why we started playing the game. I'm sure you've heard of it, it's called red light, green light. It has a few different names depending on where you are in the world but it's played the same way, one of you has your back to the others while they try to sneak up and touch you to take your place but if you turn around everyone has to stop and stand perfectly still. If anyone moves while you're looking they're out. It's the sort of silly game that most people leave behind when they're about ten.

We started playing again when we were seventeen. We were sat in our usual spot in the woods when Shelley flopped dramatically backwards and yelled, "I'm bored!". Rob threw himself down beside her, he had to be next to her at all times because he was hopelessly in love with her, and pondered why children were never bored before suggesting we try some children's games. We suggested a few between us but couldn't remember all the rules so we landed on red light, green light as we all recalled it. It kept us entertained for the rest of the evening, wrapped in its nostalgic glow.

After that first night we played it most times we met up for a few weeks until we got bored of that too. Rather than ditching the game we decided to change up the rules. First of all, Shaun found torches with coloured filters so we picked our way through the trees with literal green lights and 'it' had to defend their base and freeze incoming parties with their red light. In another version, we set up obstacles the players had to throw themselves behind when 'it' turned, if they could be seen they were out. I should probably add that most of these games were played under the influence of the vodka Rob stole from his parents so that probably explains why we found it quite so entertaining.

After a few weeks of variations, Georgina excitedly told us she'd found a way to use the game to summon an otherwordly entity on some strange corner of the internet. We laughed her off and went back to the vodka but she persisted.

"Who cares if it's not real? If nothing happens, we haven't lost anything but a little time. If by some miracle it works then we can make it do our bidding and get out of this shithole."

She had us there, it really felt like a win-win. How stupid we were. We probably wouldn't have agreed if it hadn't been for the vodka working its way through our systems as we had to stand in a certain formation, chant something I can't fully remember, and then prick our fingers as we turned around, letting a little blood fall to the ground as the 'red light'. As it turned out, the others wimped out and only me and Georgina actually did the blood step and I think that's the reason we're the only two still alive.

Nothing happened at the time, we stood there staring awkwardly at each other for a few minutes then cracked up and finished the vodka while we mocked Georgina lightheartedly. The next day my Mum woke me with the news that Rob, Shelley, and Shaun had gone missing. What I didn't tell the police was that I had a voicemail from Shelley screaming that there was something outside her door, and maybe Georgina was onto something, and messages from the boys to the same effect. They were never found.

Me and Georgina never spoke again, I think we were both too full of guilt that we'd escaped their fate. I kept tabs on her through social media so I know she's still alive so she must have learnt the same tricks as me. You see, because we completed the ritual properly we are playing the game. I've had to upend my whole life and I am basically now a hermit. You see if I don't have my back to a wall I hear a voice inside my head in a raspy whisper say 'green light', and every time it happens it's a little louder.