Bogleech.com's 2016 Horror Write-off:

The Live Wire

Submitted by Xionahri

Something was changing. It had happened slowly, over time. But something was wrong.


It started like a normal thing, I thought, a new trend. I have never been very aware of new trends, but this one seemed very curious. People all over the world have started decorating their cars with strange stickers. Yellow with an orange line crossing it, and strange grey symbols written on it.

I can't say I know what every language looks like, but I've never seen something like this before. I certainly looks like a language, that's to be sure.

This stickers were always on the back window, stuck over the wiper, holding it in place. Why would anyone do this? Is this even legal?


The strangest thing was, though, that no one seemed to truly acknowledge it. No one, but a few people. Most treated it like normal, nothing unusual. News reports of it died down quickly and and almost no evidence was left that this was indeed an unusual thing.

There more people were affected, the more unusual behaviours emerged. While driving, they'd randomly turn to some streets they never intended to drive to in first place. Eventually, more affected people join in, forming long, slow moving lines for seemingly no reason. To be honest, I've never gotten my driving license, but even despite this I can tell that this is not how people normally drive. And worse, while this happens, the cars' radios glitch out and sputter something strange. A language of some sort, structure and everything, but none I have heard before.


Well, I did the best thing I can do as one of the last sane persons on the planet and consulted the internet. Lo and behold, there's indeed a community on the matter. And they offered some interesting findings.

First and foremost, people have decrypted the strange symbols of the stickers. They say something akin to 'The Live Wire'. And thus, the community decided this to be the name of the phenomenon. Yet under the title, the sticker says something else, yet to be decrypted. Interestingly, these symbols vary from case to case. Some suggested it's a numbering system of some sort.

Secondly, no one on this forum has a driver's license. Some, like me never gotten their in first place, others have lost theirs before the outbreak started.


The third thing might be the most fascinating yet also most concerning one. And that even if it turns out unrelated to the Live Wire. Large metal spikes have been found jutting out of the ground. All over the planet, some even in the oceans. It's always multiple tapering spikes in a straight row, rows sometimes reaching as long as a whole kilometre, if the witnesses to be believed. Also according to them, each of the spikes are reaching from 15 up to 60 metres. Some have suggested digging to see how deep they go and what at their bottom is, but how can you do this without anyone knowing here how to operate an excavator? However deep they go, some users have reported you don't get far enough with a shovel. Figures. Well, you can't say they aren't trying.


Before I digress further, you might wonder what these have to do with the Wire. Nothing, for all we know, but they have some features possibly important for us. For starters, like the Wire, very few people even acknowledge their existence. Despite being huge and cannot be overlooked by any means.

The other thing is that the emit radio waves of varying frequencies. Nothing helpful could be found so far, but it's a start. For something. Possibly.


A new post caught my eye, fresh from today. Someone mentioned he'll try to cut into one of the spikes with metal saws. He'd already been hoarding a bunch of them, as such large metal constructs should prove a challenge. And he even found a smaller and therefore thinner spike near the place he lived. Still, he also mentions he fully expects to camp there. Hard work for one person on one day. But if the interference of the spike's radio signals aren't too much, he'll keep us updated via phone.


For some reason I felt excited at the thought of reading his eventual updates. It felt like witnessing history in the making. Giddily, I passed the time reading up more of the - somewhat sparse - information, as well as flame wars about whether the spikes are related to the Live Wire or not. The internet will never stop being like this, will it?


The first thing I checked after getting up in the morning was of course for new updates. The guy had written two hours ago that he arrived near the spike and set up tent. Yay, his phone connection seems to be still working.


Fast forward two days later. Today, in fact. I just read the final post of his adventure, and I'm quite shocked by the results. So seemed anyone else reading this.

First, there had been nothing but metal. As expected. A thick layer of mostly iron. Under this, there were wires. All different kinds of wires. Most were copper, others were gold or silver, some even aluminium. They varied in colour and structure, but they all were just normal wires. The wire-layer was thicker than the outer layer. Yet he also managed to get past it.

As he had cut through the wires, he was greeted by a liquid clearly containing more iron, judging by colour and smell. He aborted his project at this point, saying that he could feel heat and pulsations this deep inside. That, and the liquid was too red for his taste...