Lunette

On a particular day, my roommate Ben returned home with an old TV. He told me he found it on the side of the road and decided to bring it back with him. 

Judging from how old and scratched up the TV was, I'd doubt it would work. Honestly, he seemed delusional to me. Ben clicked its power button in anticipation, yet the screen still stayed pitch black. The annoying sound of him repetitively pressing the power filled up the silence in the room. He was so desperate for it to turn on, but without a remote there was nothing else he could do. I warned him to throw out that useless piece of junk before bugs started crawling out of it, then left for my room. 

Around 3 am, I crept into the kitchen to get a glass of water. But when I passed by the TV, it suddenly turned on and an old vintage show began playing. It seemed so familiar, even though I'd never seen anything like it.

The title screen revealed that it was called, 'Lunette' and a girl with black pigtails and blue eyes appeared on the TV, holding a magical wand. I assumed that this was some kind of stereotypical magical anime girl and almost got up to leave but then the villain appeared on the screen. 

Usually the antagonists in these shows were attractive women of peers of the main character overcome with anger, but this was different. This was horrifying. This was some grotesque monster with ripped flesh and jagged teeth ready to rip her apart. 

The monster lunged at the main character and blood filled up the screen. Nothing about this show was censored and her gut retching scream still echoes in my mind. With a couple of low budgeted moves, the monster was now dead. And before I knew it, I was staring at my dark reflection on the empty screen. Afterwards I went to my room, debating if that was actually real or if I had imagined the whole thing. 

The next morning, Ben and I had breakfast together. When I told him that the TV had turned on last night, his eyes lit up and he declared that we would be keeping it. I asked him why he was so determined to have that specific TV and he said that he had a similar one when he was a kid. I could have sworn I saw his expression go sour for a moment. 

That night, I peeked my head out my bedroom door at 3 am. Not to my surprise, the TV was back on. I sat down on the couch and continued to watch the same show from yesterday night, Lunette. This time, the main character was at school. Instead of the stereotypical quirky classmates, all of them had horrifying masks on. The dialog seemed so casual, yet no one acknowledged their horrifying appearances at all. As the episode came to a wrap, the main character looked at me and mouthed 'Help'. 

I didn't get a wink of sleep that night. Around 3 am the next night, another episode began to play. This time, a character who looked eerily similar to my roommate appeared as the best friend of the main character. He stopped coming back home after that episode came out. 

As the show went on, the scenes became more and more horrifying. The character fought off monsters beyond comprehension and the scars never seemed to disappear completely. Sometimes, the main character would look directly at me through the TV and it seemed like she was on the verge of screaming. 

One night, I sat down to watch it again. However Lunette wasn't playing like usual. This time it was a news channel. 

'Attention viewers, we apologize for the recent broadcasts. It was discovered that the show 'Lunette' was a live stream featuring a kidnapped girl named Charlene Axel. We apologize for any disturbing events you might have witnessed'

I sat there as the TV screen faded black and I was alone with my reflection. Was that... the final episode? I was frozen in my seat, realizing that everything I saw was real.