"Do it," a voice hissed from behind the lens. It didn't sound human; it sounded like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

On his couch, the real Marcus felt a cold draft. He looked up from the laptop. Sitting against the far wall of his living room was the same antique mirror from the video.

The video opened to a shaky, high-angle shot of a basement crowded with people whose faces were blurred by a strange, digital static. In the center of the room stood Marcus. He looked pale, his eyes fixed on something just off-camera.

The file sat on the desktop of the borrowed laptop like a digital landmine: VIDEO dare at a party UFLASH.TV.mp4 .

Tell me the you want to hit, and I'll refine the piece.

In the video, Marcus picked up a heavy, antique mirror from the floor. The dare wasn’t a physical feat or a gross-out stunt. He just had to stare into the glass for sixty seconds without blinking. As the timer on the screen ticked up, the party around him went silent. The blurred figures stopped moving.

The video cut to black. A single line of text appeared on the screen: Upload complete. Mirror synced.