The static on the screen was the first warning. For months, the four of them had tracked the cult's activity through grainy forum posts and whispered rumors. They had finally found it: a hidden link promising , the latest "update" to the nightmare they’d been investigating. The download finished with a sharp, mechanical click that sounded too much like a door locking. "Ready?" Anna’s voice crackled through the headset.
"Find the goats," Elias whispered, his character clicking a UV flashlight to life. The purple beam cut through the dark, revealing symbols etched into the porch—the same ones Mark had tattooed on his arm a week ago. He hadn't told the others yet.
"The ritual isn't in the game," Mark realized, his voice dropping to a terrified breath as he looked at the glowing marks on his own skin. "The multiplayer... it needs four hosts."
"I'm in the basement," Anna said."I'm by the altar," Mark added."I'm outside," said Elias.