Last night, I played Among Us with a bunch of college friends.

It’s a computer game similar to Mafia. You and the other players are on a spaceship, and everyone is either a “crewmate” or “impostor.” The crewmates try to complete tasks they’re given, and the impostors try to kill everyone.

There are some nuances, but that’s the gist of it. It was five of us: me, my roommate Brayden, the girls’ double across the hall, and David, in a single above us. We were all in our respective bedrooms, alone, in a video call–because if we were actually together, we’d see each others’ screens and spoil who was the impostor. Besides… it was the responsible thing to do with all the COVID spikes recently.

“Should I start the game?” On the screen, five little bipeds ran across the room, their faces obscured by cartoon glass. I scanned the name floating over each person: Brayden, Allie, Jenny, David.

“Go ahead.”

The screen flashed: Crewmate. There is 1 Impostor among us. Then the game was off. I made my little character run over to fix some wires. About thirty seconds in, I heard Allie’s voice.

ALLIE: (gasp) Noooo! I just got killed!

BRAYDEN: Hey! No talking about the game!

ALLIE: I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it.

BRAYDEN: Then mute yourself.

ME: Come on, give her a break.

I frowned. Through the speakers, I could hear the faint echo of my voice, as Brayden’s microphone picked it up. These dorm walls were so thin.

ME: It’s her first time playing, Brayden. Come on.

BRAYDEN: If everyone says when they die, it gives everything away and ruins the fun.

ALLIE: Okay, okay. I won’t say anything.

Words flashed across the screen. DEAD BODY REPORTED. Then someone called an Emergency Meeting, and we shrunk our games to see the video call.

Allie crossed her arms. “I’m so mad. I can’t believe–”

“Don’t tell us who it is!” David said, his face pixelated and a Led Zeppelin poster behind him. I heard a few thumps above me as he shuffled his feet. “Listen. I saw Jenny just walk into a room, and then walk out. That’s tell-tale Impostor behavior.”

“I got lost!”

“I say we vote Jenny off, then,” I said.

She glared at me through the screen. “I think it was you.”

“It wasn’t me! I was fixing wires!”

We voted. Jenny got voted off. She was the Impostor. Then we started another round. I was, again, a crewmate. 1 Impostor was among us.

I was doing the card scanner task when I heard Allie’s voice again, coming through the speaker.

ALLIE: Nononono–get away from me.

DAVID: You’re not supposed to talk about the game! Come on, you’re ruining it for everyone!

ALLIE: No! Get away from me!

ME: Come on, Allie, now we know you’re not the Impostor.

ALLIE: STOP IT!

Then she finally stopped talking. The line went silent.

DAVID: Okay, has anyone found her body yet?

JENNY: Nope, not yet.

I finally finished my card-scanning task, so I walked my character around the spaceship, looking for the Engine Room. I got lost down a few hallways, but finally found it.

I froze.

Allie’s character, a bright-pink astronaut, was just standing there. Not dead–just standing still, in the center of the room. As if she were away from keyboard.

ME: Uh, guys, I found Allie. She isn’t dead.

DAVID: Then what was she going on about?

JENNY: Is anyone dead yet?

BRAYDEN: We can’t call a meeting unless we find the body first.

An unsettling feeling filled me. I walked around her, in circles. She didn’t move.

ME: Allie? You still there?

Silence.

ME: Jenny, is she AFK?

JENNY: Shouldn’t be. I’ll go check, though.

Shuffling sounds filled the speakers as Jenny got up and left her computer. The rest of us–Brayden, David, and I–waited in silence.

Then sound burst through the speakers. A scream, distorted by static.

JENNY: Allie? Oh my God, Allie. Can you hear me?

Her voice cracked with fear. A sob. And then their soft echoes, from Jenny’s microphone in the next room.

ME: Jenny, what happened?

JENNY: Call the police!

I reached for my phone. But as I did, words flashed across the screen. DEAD BODY REPORTED. And above it, the image of Allie’s pink character. Dead.

I dialed the police with shaking fingers. What’s happening? This is sick. Really fucking sick. I listened to the ring, then the 911 operator came on. “Someone was attacked in my friend’s dorm. West Hall…”

I stopped.

All this time, there had been that soft echo of my voice–Brayden’s computer picking me up through the thin wall. Now, it was gone.

I stood up, shaking. My hand closed around the cold doorknob. I pulled it up, just an inch, and stared out into the common room.

The door was creaking open. Behind it, Brayden–holding a knife in one hand and his laptop in the other.

I scrambled back into my room, thrust the window open, and began to climb out. But not before my eyes caught on my own screen.

DEAD BODY REPORTED

With the image of my character.