Andy was always trying to leave me out of things. He was mostly locked in his room listening to his cool music on his headphones so I couldn’t even hear. Or playing video games that I was ‘too young’ for.

It was great when he got his summer job in the school holiday because I’d sneak into his room and listen to his records, and play his computer games. My favourite one was called “Arcade” and I liked it because it was a bit creepy.

In the evenings, I’d hear him talking to his mates on the phone about his job and it sounded really fun. They were planning to go to the arcade late on friday night when no one else was there and have something called a ‘lock in’. I wanted to go too, so I waited until he snuck out of the house and I followed him.

It was dark on the street, the only light the moon, but I wasn’t scared because I always kept Andy in my view. I let him walk quite a bit in front so he wouldn’t see me. Andy walks quick but I’m the quickest runner in my class. But I wasn’t quick enough. Four other boys were waiting outside the arcade for him, and without saying a word to them he unlocked the door and they all went inside, locking the door behind them.

What now? I was too scared to walk back home alone and I couldn’t wait outside. I looked up at the open window. Too high. I was starting to wish I’d stayed at home. I walked around to the back of the building. There was a red door. “It’s probably locked” I thought. But I tried it anyway, I didn’t want to stay out here by myself. The moon had gone behind a cloud now and it was super dark. To my surprise the door opened, into a big room with long bright ceiling lights. I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light. The room was full. Full of huge arcade machines. Cool! I stepped inside. Maybe Andy hadn’t switched them on yet. I looked around for my brother and his friends but I couldn’t see them. Maybe there is another room, or they’ve gone to get a drink. That’s when I noticed the machine at the other end of the room. That one was switched on. It said “play? Y/N?” In bold green letters. Cool! I walked over, keen to get a quick game in before Andy saw me and I got in to trouble. I edged closer to it, hand outstretched. I used the button to select ‘Y’. There was a low hum and then everything dimmed and went black. I screamed. Then, there was a pinging sound as the room was illuminated by emergency lighting, the kind that they have on aeroplanes. I let out a sigh of relief. I looked back up at the game I was going to play. It was flashing ‘GAME OVER’ in big red letters. I turned around. All the machines were displaying the same thing ‘GAME OVER’

I swallowed hard. Must be some kind of default when the electricity tripped. I looked around for the door to the next room. I needed to find my brother.I didn’t care about getting in trouble anymore I was getting creeped out. But there is no door to another room. This appeared to be the only room. Weird. I looked towards the door I came in through at the other end of the room. Head down, I quickly walked towards it, feeling as though I’m being watched. This is silly. There’s no one here but me. The door seemed so far away. The only sounds are that weird low hum and my breathing. Finally, I reached the door. I pulled the handle. locked. It can’t be. I tried again, I pushed, pulled, rattled, wiggled, tugged, yanked. Nothing worked. It’s locked. I’m trapped.