Stay Alive 2006

As the unsettling stillness of Loomis Crowley’s funeral began to fade, Hutch found himself grappling with an unexpected revelation: the presence of Abigail, Samaire Armstrong, who offered him a chilling connection to the deceased through a sinister video game known as Stay Alive. This macabre game had a magnetic pull, engaging players like Rex’s girlfriend, Sarah, and ultimately leading to a fate as gruesome as that faced by their digital avatars.

The grim intrigue took shape during Loomis’ funeral, where Hutch gathered with his friends - October, Phineus, Abigail, and Swink - to pay their respects. Joining them from afar was Miller, Hutch’s boss, whose virtual attendance sealed his unfortunate fate alongside those of his employees. Their shared obsession with Stay Alive quickly escalated, leading them to chant “The Prayer of Elizabeth,” a haunting incantation beseeching the doom of anyone who dared oppose, a plea that would soon come true in horrifying ways.

As the players immersed themselves in the eerie world of Stay Alive, they explored a dilapidated mansion nestled within the abandoned Gerouge Plantation. The game’s ominous directives drew them toward a graveyard haunted by vengeful spirit children, leading them closer to a foreboding mausoleum. Miller, participating online, was prompted to pluck a rose, an action that would provide a fleeting escape from the grasp of death momentarily staved off.

October, well-versed in the darker aspects of folklore, began uncovering the secrets hidden within the game’s occult themes. Her insights into the ancient mythology of wild roses and their ineffectiveness against dark forces proved critical. Meanwhile, Miller, now detached from his friends, tossed the rose in a desperate act that shattered the spirits’ bonds on him. Yet, tragically, his character faced an inevitable death at the hands of the notorious Countess Elizabeth Bathory.

In the wake of Miller’s horrific demise, Hutch became ensnared in a murky scene of lies and violence, with detectives Thibodeaux and King probing him about the string of murders. As they interrogated him, Hutch uncovered disconcerting parallels between Loomis’ and Miller’s ends, both having recently played the deadly game just before their brutal fates mirrored that of their avatars.

October dug deeper into the dark annals of Bathory’s past, revealing her legendary habit of bathing in the blood of young maidens to retain her youth, an obsession linked to her aversion to mirrors, which reflected her own mortality. Emboldened by a thirst for thrill, Phineus decided to tackle the game alone but soon met a grisly end, crushed by a horse-drawn carriage, a victim of his own recklessness.

As the remaining players reeled from their losses, there was a collective resolution to abandon the cursed game. Yet, Detective King’s arrogance led him to disregard Swink’s cautions, ultimately succumbing to the game’s deadly clutches. His digital demise mirrored a brutal fate in the real world where he was met with a horrific end.

Determined to explore Loomis’ dark estate, Hutch and Abigail discovered the location of the mysterious game developer, the infamous Gerouge Plantation. Unbeknownst to them, their investigation intertwined them with the haunting legacy of Countess Bathory. The chilling realization that she had been reborn through The Prayer of Elizabeth sent chills down their spines. October’s grim fate underscored the only way to banish the vengeful spirit: by driving three nails into her incorporeal form, thereby trapping her lost soul.

Navigating this perilous path together, Hutch, Abigail, and Swink utilized their wits against Bathory, with Swink cleverly distracting her using his laptop while Hutch and Abigail searched for a way out. Unfortunately, their tactics backfired when the Countess, finding new ways to cheat, emerged from her carriage, exacting brutal retribution on Swink in reality. In a desperate struggle, he became ensnared in thorny brambles as his digital avatar met a tragic end.

When Hutch and Abigail returned to their van to find Swink’s character reduced to ashes, they dropped wild roses behind them to fend off the ghostly children but quickly became separated. Ultimately, at the tower, Hutch found himself alone performing the vital ritual on Bathory’s lifeless body, only to confront a ghostly vision of Abigail.

To outsmart the sinister spirit of the Countess, he cleverly used the reflective surface of Swink’s laptop to keep her at bay before igniting the tower in flames. Just as despair loomed large, Swink and Abigail burst into the blaze, rescuing their beleaguered friend just as Bathory’s burning form succumbed to the inferno.

As tensions finally eased, the trio fled the tower, leaving the charred remnants of Bathory’s horrific legacy behind. Yet, unbeknownst to them, a new game was already in motion. The now-overflowing gaming store featured fresh copies of Stay Alive, unwittingly hosting the reborn Countess. With eerie echoes of Elizabeth Bathory’s prayer resounding through the game, players were about to discover the horrors that lay ahead, as the camera panned to her chilling gaze staring into the encroaching darkness.