Ghost Hunter: CyberNerf (Alternative Draft)

Chapter 3

The giant spider's mouth sprang open. "Ghost Spider!" Ned hollered.

His hand still stung from the bite, though not as much. A little of the Chickweed Salve from his mother's dressing drawer had solved the problem. But he had to focus while his hand constantly slipped over the keys.

The ghost spider belched shadows that quickly twisted into smaller spiders closing in to attack CyberNed. Several planks under his feet cracked and he stumbled. Loose dirt showered down from the ceiling as the ghost spider let out a terrifying howl.

Ned's fingers flew across his computer keyboard with lightning speed, expertly controlling his CyberNed character in his favorite video game of all time—Cyber Ghost. It was where he retreated whenever his family annoyed him, like earlier that night when he'd mistaken the spider for a ghost.

In a burst of comprehension, he realized the weak spot in the spider's glistening carapace. Barfing all those shadows was meant to distract him from that spot. With his lifeline dropping, he advanced with single-minded intent and fired.

The hideous spider finally lurched sideways uncontrollably!

"Yess! Yes!" He was jabbing the air with elbow and fist, screwing his eyes shut with the sheer exhilaration of the moment. "You want Ned, the Ghost Hunter? Come get it square in the face!"

A chat message buzzed. "What?" His eyes flicked toward the rectangular box flashing at the bottom of the screen. His fingers relaxed on the control keys and that was all the time the enemy needed.

The gaming screen burst into red flames with the boss spider's face leering at him in triumph.

YOU'RE DEAD, WISE GUY, the words flashed.

"Oh no!" Ned stamped his foot and bumped it against the table leg.

Ned bared teeth resentfully. "Who's messaging me?" He read the name of the sender. It said: The Neighborhood Watch.

It was an unusual name. First of all, players weren't allowed to use spaces in their names. Something awesome like busterBill052 or Deadly_blade39 or ghostseekersupremo would be more like it.

Ned hovered over the name and clicked. The rectangular box began to flicker with a flat feverish gleam. It turned into a beryl-blue ball and began to spin like a wheel.

"What is this?" Ned had exchanged replies and messages in the gaming room before, even though he generally did not chat with people online; especially those he did not know. It was not uncommon for someone from another part of the world to be playing at the same time as him, and players sent each other requests to team up or compete through the levels of the game. There was no way this game was getting as big as pubg or Counterstrike or Call of Duty, but the dedicated tribe of followers that cut up the day into pieces, to commit as many to playing it as they could, had taken the vows.

Except the few times when he had consented to partnering with another player, he preferred to hunt in the dimly lit realms of cyberspace on his own. The spinning blue ball burst into tiny bubbles. As the lolling cloud of these bubbles peeled away, his eyes began to read the text of the message:

We need your help. Are you there, Cyber Ned?

A rap on the door interrupted Ned and he quickly shut off his computer screen.

Dan stuck his head round the door. "Busted." Dan said, narrowing his eyes.

"What do you want?" Ned asked impatiently. He didn't want to deal with Dan right now. He wanted to find out why this mysterious player had messaged him. It seemed important.

Dan's face brightened. "Just wanted to talk. Mind if I take some of your time?"

It was a trap. Ned knew it was a trap. Dan was just pretending to be nice to him. He was only here to yell at him for scaring Pam with the spider earlier.

"I didn't scare Pamela on purpose. I had to let the spider out, and she just happened to be standing there. I'm sorry."

"Oh!" Dan laughed, nodding. It surprised Ned. Dan didn't seem angry. "Girls are girls. Spiders and bugs scare them easily." He walked into the room. "She thought you were sweet."

Ned looked away from his screen up at his brother. "She did?" Ned's mind began to shift from the mysterious message to his older brother. "Hey," Ned continued. "Pam said that you talk about me a lot?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I do! I tell her all about how you hunt things that aren't really there." Dan smirked.

Ned understood the sarcasm. It had been a trap after all. "What do you want?" Ned emphasized each word this time.

Dan looked at Ned, sitting in his chair in front of a black computer screen. "So, what's up? I thought I might bother you during one of your gaming sessions. Your computer's off."

Ned glanced at the screen, wondering why Dan suddenly seemed so interested in his gaming. "Why do you care? Have you been playing any games?"

"Me? Nah! You know I'm not into virtual reality like you."

"Were you ever into gaming when..."

"When I was little?" Dan finished the sentence.

"I'm not little," Ned said. But he liked the idea of having a chat about video games with Dan.

"Yeah I played them all the time, when I was too naïve to tell the real world from the fake." Dan reached past Ned and turned on the computer screen before Ned could stop him. The message was displayed on the screen.

We need your help

"Is this one of your online friends? You should really get out of the house more. I could put a good word in for you if you wanted to try out for the baby football team." Dan paused. He knew Ned didn't want to play football. Ned waited. "Nevermind," Dan continued. "Mom said to tell you that you have to start helping dad with chores around the house or she's gonna cancel your CyberGhost subscription. Bye!"

"You are such a loser," Ned breathed as Dan pulled the door shut behind him.

"No you are!" his brother called as the door tapped shut.

"You are!!" Ned shouted at the top of his lungs. He turned back to the message on his computer, huffing with frustration. "No one understands me."

Ned started thinking of a reply, but then he saw the player had gone offline. Dan had ruined his chance! He was too late now.