01001000 01101001 01101101 mp3

I was never one to be afraid of the unknown. “Scares out of the blue” and blood, that yes, I admit, disturbs me more than anything. But I don't understand how anyone can be afraid of something that, by all accounts, doesn't even exist. The unknown doesn't interest me… much!

But all that aside, I still delve into the world of horror; I can't be satisfied with what I know.

A few hours ago, I was on my favorite horror site. I was just browsing the articles, reviews and other posts when I came across a certain page containing a link.

The link said the word “Delete” next to the link. Just "Delete".

My curiosity grew quickly. Had to click!

The link immediately started a folder in zip format., called “Do NOT listen”.

Of course, once the download completed, I ran my antivirus scan on the file.

It was all clean.

I opened the folder and inside there was an MP3 audio file and an executable “batch” file.

The MP3 was named “01001000 01101001 01101101″ and the batch “READ”.

Being an average computer user, I read the batch file first, just to be sure.

The file opened a command prompt window, on the left side of the window were several repeated lines of red text saying, “Don't listen. Just destroy.”

I started to think about what I had downloaded. I double-checked, the file was clean of potential infection.

My curiosity grew even more, the only other file in the folder was the MP3 file. Even though the folder was called “Don't listen”… I clicked it anyway.

The audio was in “lo-fi” quality and had a total length of 2:36. It all started with a bang and a noise in the background. A short time later, audio mixes of what appeared to be a demonic call, a gunshot and some sort of creature started playing, accompanied by an up sweep, that alone was enough to disturb me. 13 seconds, a robotic voice in the background started saying numbers like “73… 32… 99″. What did you mean? Even though the voice was electronic, it sounded like it had a personality… I started to feel nervous. The voice began to speak the numbers faster, as if speaking directly to me… as if they were to me. The numbers finally stopped and a piano played every two seconds accompanied by bursts of noise. I had no idea what to expect next. About 15 seconds later, more hellish noises started… followed by more numbers. The numbers must be part of a message, there was no way this file could mean anything. After the numbers stopped, the only thing that could be heard was a blood-curdling scream of a man in brutal pain, his voice echoing in what felt like a room… was it real? The scream only lasted a while, but it seemed to have lasted much longer. The voice spoke again, but this time a whisper. It sounded like he, or whatever he was, was saying something in reverse… a hidden message, perhaps?

I was as scared as I was excited, what could all this mean?

The first thing I noticed was that the title of the MP3 file was written in binary code. I copied the title and put it in a code translator I found online.

I decoded the binary, which was translated as “he”… who is “he”?

So I went back to the page where I had downloaded the folder… it was no longer online. withdrawal. Because?

Eager to learn more, so I decided to listen again to all the numbers in the audio file, which were '73 32 99 97 110 32 115 101 101 32 121 111 117 46 46 46 32 66 117 116 32 121 111 117 32 99 97 110 39 116 32 115 101 101 32 109 101 46'. They looked similar to the numbers found in the 'ASCII DEC/CHAR' section of the binary translator…. the message… it disturbed me more than I thought.

The only thing left to unravel the message was that part where the voice spoke backwards. I opened the audio in an audio editor and reversed the voice… Now… I'm scared.

There had to be something else, it couldn't be just that.

I suddenly noticed, at the bottom of the folder window, it said “3 items”… when there were only two.

I went into Windows settings and turned on the “Show hidden files” option…

A hidden “batch” file appeared… titled “-.bat.”

I was so scared to open it, but before I had time to build up any courage, I had already clicked open.

…It terrified me all my life.