Leo tried to close the window. The 'X' in the corner vanished as his cursor approached. He tried Task Manager, but the process list was empty. He tried to pull the plug, but his laptop stayed powered on, the fan whirring with a high-pitched, rhythmic wheeze that sounded suspiciously like a wheezing laugh.
The jester was no longer a flat drawing. It was gaining depth, its hand-drawn lines becoming sharp, jagged razors. It reached toward the "glass" of the monitor from the inside. “Let’s share the joke, Leo.” xd.exe
The screen went black. The lights in the apartment died. In the darkness, the only thing visible was a glowing, yellow "XD" floating in the air, widening until the room was filled with the sound of a laughter that was never meant to be heard. Leo tried to close the window
Text began to crawl across the bottom of the screen in a jagged, handwritten font. “Why so serious, Leo?” He tried to pull the plug, but his
“Stop it,” Leo whispered, hitting every key on the board. “XD,” the jester replied on screen.