Beyond the Gates Page #2

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Hey, why do you hang out

with that scumbag, anyway?

Well, um, that scumbag is my friend.

I mean, he might not be

the independently wealthy

stuffed shirt you are

but I mean, at least he was

around when dad disappeared.

You know,

that whole disappearance thing

it loses a lot of weight

when it's the 40th time

dad splits town

and cuts off communication.

Whatever.

I have a mortgage to pay, John.

Hank dropped everything

when I called him.

Hey.

Check out...

...what I found.

Ooh.

Do you wanna...

- Maybe we should, right?

- Yeah.

Ooh. This is momentous.

- Shut up.

- Hm.

Hm. So this is it.

It's, like,

exactly how I'd pictured it.

Really?

I always thought

it'd be bigger, for some reason.

Hey, you know what else

I always pictured?

What?

Comin' back here and going

through all of this sh*t.

Hey, there's gotta be

some weird stuff back here.

- Kind of afraid to be honest.

- Oh, don't be a puss.

- See anything interesting?

- Uh-uh.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Whoa!

- Holy sh*t!

- This is some serious firepower--

whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, hey!

Look out, Bickle,

don't point that thing at me.

Jesus, what the hell

did dad have that for?

Probably to shoot stuff.

Huh.

What do we have here?

Hm.

"Beyond the Gates."

Huh.

Looks like somebody

was playing it recently.

Oh, sh*t.

I wonder why he brought that back here.

Maybe it has something on it

he doesn't want anybody to see.

Then we should watch it.

Uh, maybe we shouldn't.

Oh, come on, man,

aren't you curious

what dad was watching

the last time he was back here?

I mean, maybe it's not even

the tape from the game.

Maybe that's just the label,

maybe...

What if it's a sex tape?

That's even worse.

Do you really wanna see

dad having sex with mom?

I mean, who knows, man,

it could be your first home video.

Oh, John. i/

Welcome, curious viewers. i/

Are you ready to step

into the ultimate nightmare? i/

A world of unimaginable horror i/

with deadly consequences. i/

Have you the courage

to go Beyond the Gates? i/

You may now open

your game board. i/

Dude, turn it off,

turn it off.

What was that?

Why the hell

was he keeping that back here?

I think because it causes seizures?

Or because that lady

was f***ing smoking hot.

I think I want it.

Well, it's, it's yours now.

- How long were we in there?

- I have no idea.

Oh, sh*t, it's 5:00 already.

Really?

What are you doing for dinner?

Oh, are you, you gonna

invite me over to dinner

'cause you don't want

your girlfriend to yell at you

'cause you're late?

Yes.

I don't know, it's tough

'cause it's like McDonald's

or roll the dice

on the G-man's home cooking.

I don't know.

You'll be happy to know

that Margot's the one

handling food tonight.

Alright, yeah, you're on.

- See you at the house.

- Yeah, see ya.

Somebody's hungry.

I know, yeah.

This is, this is delicious.

- Oh, thanks.

- Mm-hmm. Yeah.

So your friend was interesting.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, he can get

pretty riled up sometimes.

Don't tell me you go

pick up girls with that guy.

What?

What, he's not that bad.

I'm pretty sure

he's a date rapist.

So, John,

what do you do for work?

Oh, you know,

just like, uh, odd jobs

and helping out, uh

with errands and things

for people.

Well, like a, like an assistant?

Yeah, exactly.

Um, so how was

your first night here?

Oh, my God.

I haven't slept that well

in months.

Really?

I didn't stumble out of bed

once. It's great.

What do you mean,

like, sleepwalking?

Well, ahem,

she's been taking Ambien

to keep her down at night

with mixed results.

- Really?

- Yeah.

I was having nightmares

after I hurt my wrists

so the doctor

prescribed it to me.

After you hurt your, what?

How did that happen?

I fell.

So how was, um,

the store today?

It was good, you know, we, uh

we, we found this, like

weird, probably banned VCR game.

What's a VCR game?

It's like a,

it's like a board game, you know

but you gotta watch it.

There are, like, a bunch of them.

There's Gatekeeper"

and Nightmare"

and, like,

a bunch of adventure ones.

I don't know, there's, like,

way too many to name

but here, check it out.

Wow!

The designer

clearly did not study semiotics.

Mm-hmm.

Wait, what's that?

Oh, it's, um,

just full of clashing symbols.

Well, it's really old

and seizure inducing.

Shut up.

Let's play it.

- Yeah?

- Right now?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Come on.

It'll be fun.

Okay.

Alright, so we gotta

get the tape in there.

Okay, here's the board.

I'll put the tape in.

Whoa! Who's the babe?

Oh, sh -- she said

something about

opening up the game board earlier.

The blue, grey

and red players i/

place your pieces

on the starting point. i/

I'll go for grey. i/

I'll be red.

I guess I will be blue.

The blue player i/

you may now

step in front of the screen. i/

Do it.

To collect the keys

and unlock the gateway i/

a series of challenges

must be undertaken. i/

Failure to do so

will turn your souls i/

over to our world. i/

Okay, there's supposed to be

some sort of goal or something?

I have no idea.

Obtaining the four keys i/

allows passage beyond the gates i/

and a return to your world. i/

Only there

can your father's soul be saved. i/

What the f***?

Did you just hear that?

The other world awaits you. i/

Where did you say

you found this again?

Our dad's office.

Could it be

some sort of prank?

If it is,

it's not very funny.

You know,

we should show this to someone.

Wait. Maybe Derek could help.

You think he'd do that?

Can't hurt to ask.

You guys, I'm getting

a really bad energy off of this.

Do you mind if I go upstairs?

No, no.

I'll take care of the dishes.

Thank you.

Oh, hey, you know what?

Let me help you out with those.

Sure, that'd be great.

Thanks.

Do you need money or something?

No.

Just maybe, like, a place to

crash for a couple of days.

Hey, you're homeless?

Oh, wow, uh.. nn..

Well, I had something

going on for a while

uh, with, uh, someone,

but she turned out to..

I, I don't anymore, so..

So let me guess.

This is an indefinite stay

until you get your own place?

Uh, yeah, pretty much. Yeah.

Well...

Tell you what? Do these

and you got yourself a deal.

Yeah, I'm doing 'em.

Hey, um...

Yeah, what's up?

I don't know.

Do you really think that tape

has something to do with dad?

It seems that way.

Sh*t.

I wonder if officer Derek's

ever dealt with anything

like this.

I'm sure he's handled

much more weirder cases.

Oh, yeah.

Hey, uh,

be sure to lock the door.

Yeah, sure thing.

Dad would kill me

if he found it open.

- What?

- Sorry.

Oh, that was a, uh..

Yeah.

Yeah.

Hm.

Ahem. Have a good night.

Yeah, you too.

Goodnight.

Dad?

Help me.

Holy sh*t!

- Jesus. Hey.

- Uh.

- Hey.

- Ah..

What happened?

You were sleepwalking.

Oh. Hey, guys, I really think

someone was in here.

- What?

- Hey.

- Is everything okay?

- Yeah. Uh..

What are you doing down here?

I thought I heard something movin' around.

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