The screen went pitch black. Then, a low, rhythmic thrumming sound began to vibrate through his desk. It didn't sound like a digital effect; it sounded like a heavy, organic heartbeat.
Tagad tu esi daļa no meža. (Now you are part of the forest.) MeЕѕs LejupielДЃdД“t datorspД“li
The monitor cut to black, and the room went silent. When Janis's roommate came home an hour later, the computer was off and the room was empty. The only thing left behind was a faint smell of pine needles and a single, wet leaf resting on the keyboard. The screen went pitch black
He reached for the power button on his PC, but his fingers felt like lead. The screen flickered, and the text box appeared one last time, the letters bleeding into the darkness: Tagad tu esi daļa no meža
Janis typed back, his hands shaking slightly: "It's just a game."
The reflection wasn't of a game character. It was Janis. He was sitting in his chair, staring at the monitor, but the background behind him in the reflection wasn't his room—it was the dark, towering pines of the forest. A branch snapped loudly behind him, in his actual room.