The Unseen in the Upload

I didn’t believe it at first. I thought it was just another dumb app that Lucas found on the internet. “The Unseen,” he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “It shows you things you can’t normally see. Come on, we have to try it!” 

We were all gathered in my room that Friday night, huddled around my laptop. It was the perfect setting for a horror movie marathon—except we were the ones about to become the main characters in a real-life nightmare. Lucas had his usual crew with him: Jen, with her bubbly laugh that could lighten any mood; Mark, who always had a skeptical eyebrow raised; and Rachel, who was glued to her phone, scrolling through a never-ending feed of memes. 

“What’s so special about this app?” Mark asked, taking a swig of his soda. 

“It lets you see what’s lurking in the background of your photos,” Lucas explained, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Like… ghosts or something! It uses this crazy algorithm to find things hidden in your pictures. You just upload a photo and wait.” 

My heart raced with a mix of excitement and dread. The thought of seeing ghosts was absurd, but the thrill of the unknown sent shivers down my spine. 

“Okay, let’s give it a shot,” I said, trying to sound brave. 

We gathered our phones and snapped a quick selfie. The screen glowed back at us, all smiles and carefree moments, but I could feel the anticipation prickling in the air. I opened the app and tapped “Upload.”

It took only a few seconds before the screen flickered, and a spinning circle appeared. “What’s happening?” Jen asked, her excitement faltering. 

“Shh!” Lucas hissed, his eyes glued to the screen. 

Finally, the app processed our photo, and a message popped up: **“Processing Complete. View Hidden Elements.”** 

With a tap, the screen transformed. The same image appeared, but something was different. 

“Oh my god,” Rachel gasped. “What is that?” 

There, in the corner of the picture, stood a shadowy figure, its features obscured but unmistakably present. It was as if something from a nightmare had materialized right next to us. My stomach churned. 

“That’s just a glitch,” Mark said, but his voice quivered. “Right?” 

We stared at the figure. It was a dark silhouette, twisted and unsettling, but when I squinted, it almost looked like… me? My heart thudded in my chest. I felt a chill run down my spine as I realized it wore my clothes. 

“Let’s try another one!” Lucas exclaimed, his excitement returning. 

I hesitated, but the group’s energy was infectious. We uploaded more photos—pictures from the party last weekend, the group selfies at the park, even a random shot of the trees in my backyard. With each upload, the figure appeared again. It lingered in the background, watching us, a dark presence that sent cold tendrils of fear creeping through me. 

“This is freaky,” Jen said, her smile faltering. “What if it’s real?” 

But Lucas was undeterred. “It’s just an app! Let’s go for one more!” 

This time, I felt a sense of dread wash over me. I didn’t want to, but everyone else was eager, their faces lit by the dim glow of my laptop. I took a deep breath and uploaded a final picture—a shot of the four of us lounging in my room, carefree and blissfully unaware of the horrors we were invoking. 

The app took longer this time, and an uneasy silence settled over us. “Maybe it’s broken,” Mark said, but I could see the tension in his face. 

Then, the app flashed, and the screen showed our photo once more. But this time, it wasn’t just the figure in the corner. The shadow was closer, almost looming over us, its form more defined. I could see the gaping mouth and hollow eyes that seemed to pierce right through me. 

“Okay, this is seriously creeping me out,” Jen said, her voice barely above a whisper. 

“Let’s delete it,” Rachel suggested, her fingers trembling as she reached for my laptop. 

But before I could react, the app beeped again, displaying another message: **“Continue to Reveal? Yes/No.”** 

We all exchanged glances. “What if we say yes?” Lucas asked, excitement dancing in his eyes. 

“It could be dangerous,” Mark warned. 

But the curiosity was unbearable, and before I could voice my objections, Lucas hit “Yes.” 

The screen flickered again, and this time, the figure stepped forward, almost spilling out of the confines of the screen. It morphed into something more sinister, its mouth stretching wide in a horrific grin. 

“Get out!” I screamed, but it was too late. The dark figure surged into the room, and I felt an icy wind sweep past me, snatching away the warmth of the summer night. 

We scrambled to the door, panic setting in, but it was as if the room itself had twisted and turned. I glanced back at the screen, where a new message blinked furiously: **“You shouldn’t have looked.”**

Everything went dark.

When I came to, I was lying on the floor of my room, the app still open beside me. My friends were scattered around, groaning as they slowly regained consciousness. I tried to shake off the confusion, but something felt wrong. 

“Are you guys okay?” I asked, my voice trembling. 

Lucas looked at me, eyes wide. “What just happened?” 

We all looked at the screen. The app had closed, and the last thing it displayed was our final picture, except now… it was just us. No figure lurking in the background. No dark presence. 

“It’s gone,” Rachel said, relief flooding her voice. 

But as we stood up, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. My heart stopped. There it was—standing behind me, not on the screen but in the real world. 

It smiled that horrible, twisted smile. And then it whispered, “You shouldn’t have uploaded.” 

That’s when I realized: it wasn’t just an app. It was a portal. And we weren’t the ones who had been watching. 

We had been watched.

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