The rules are pretty straightforward.

At least that’s what I thought when I signed up for it back in March.

In fact, when it does come to rules; the Game only has two.

Follow all the rules.

Complete all the Challenges.

To be honest, it sounded like it would be impossible to lose.

Josh, my best friend; said that was exactly what the Game wanted you to think.

“It’s not about getting from Point A to Point B, Daniel. Well, no I take that back, it really is about getting from Point A to Point B. But no body ever does,” he had told me.

It was Josh that first introduced me to the Game last year when he said that he got 12 people to sign up for it online so that they could split the prize money.

“I thought I had everything worked out. Man, I didn’t even know what I was getting into,” Josh told me.

“So what are the challenges like?” you ask.

That I couldn’t tell you cause they change every single time the game is played. So do the rules apparently for that matter. And you don’t get to know what those are until the game actually starts.

It sounded pretty interesting back then so I told Josh to sign me up too.

“Are you kidding? No. I’m not doing that. You’ve got a wife, you’ve got a kid. This game is not for you,” he told me.

“It’s just a silly internet challenge Josh, nothing more,” I reminded him.

I was getting frustrated with his attitude. Just because I had a family he now thought that meant he could throw in my face all the fun and crazy shit that he could do that I couldn’t.

So I went online and signed up myself.

To be honest after that I actually forgot about it.

Real life got in the way, whether it was losing my job or being evicted my wife Marcy and I really did have more important things to do than some silly online game. In fact, I even fell out of touch from Josh a while back after the move. I just didn’t have the time anymore.

A few weeks ago I actually found out that he died. Or at least that’s what the Facebook thread I followed said because no one had seen or heard from him in about six weeks.

That’s why I was so surprised to get a package on my doorstep from him just about nineteen minutes ago.

In fact I think it’s safe to say that everything I ever knew about Josh or about this Game changed just thirteen minutes ago.

I actually almost tripped over the package coming into our 2 bed room apartment after a long shift at my new job otherwise I probably wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

There was a Roman numerical symbol on the side of the wrapping denoting the number 1 and a more obscure symbol next to it that I didn’t recognize.

But I knew from the handwriting who had sent it.

Josh.

Curious and still a bit wound up from work, I sat down on the sofa and opened it up.

There were three items inside, an unmarked cellphone that I guessed had to be some sort of burner, a VHS tape with the same Roman numeral and a firearm. The chamber was fully loaded.

I think it was the gun that made me feel the most nervous, but it was also the item that compelled me to scour my storage unit for my VCR.

It took about seven minutes to find thing and another six to hook it up.

The video came to life with a grainy image of my former best friend. He was staring straight at me, almost as though we were talking face to face.

“Hello Daniel. I wish you hadn’t done this, I really do. But now here we are and we can’t go back, can we?” he said with a heavy sigh.

Something about he way he was talking was making me very uncomfortable.

“You’re a part of it now though, so I’ve been tasked with giving you your very first challenge. This one is easy but believe me when I say that they don’t get any easier from here on out,” Josh remarked.

Then the words that made my heart plummet appeared onscreen.

DON’T CALL THE POLICE.

“You’ve got an hour, and then we can move on to challenge number 2,” he said as the video cut to black.

I stood up and paced the living room trying to figure out exactly what that message meant.

Then I moved to my bedroom to wake my wife and get some kind of idea about what to do.

But she wasn’t there. The covers were all neatly arranged like she had just gotten up in the middle of the night to go check on Michael.

I raced to his room next, calling out to him as I pushed open his door.

The scene there was enough to give me a heart attack. Clothes strewn about with signs of a struggle. Blood smeared across the wall. I knew it had to be Michael’s.

How could this have happened? I had just talked with Marcy only two hours ago.

I ran back to the den and pulled out my phone then I paused and looked toward the static covered television screen.

What would happen if I disobeyed the rules? Would my family be tortured? Or worse?

It made me sick to even consider. I put the phone down and sat down on the couch, trying to decide what to do.

Each minute I’ve wasted since then I have been trying to figure out that same thing.

So I’ve decided to participate in this sick and twisted game, whether I like it or not.

But I’m going to be documenting each and every thing that they make me do.

Maybe it won’t help anyone. But if even one person hears about the 24 Hour Game there’s one more rule I think they should have included.

Don’t play.