Does anyone here live in Ottawa? I’ve lived in Ottawa my whole life. I went to college at Algonquin and attended the Television Broadcasting program. I recently graduated from the program and I’ve been silent about a number of events that occurred in my final year.
It all started at the beginning of the first semester of the year. There were a number of freshman students entering. What they don’t realise is, this program is very stressful and has 10% drop out rate for students. Anyway there was a freshman student named, well let’s just call him Joel. Joel was an optimistic young student who was very smart and gifted. However, there was something off about Joel. He seemed a bit skittish and uncomfortable which is pretty normal for freshman students. I guess Joel couldn’t handle the stress of TV Broadcasting because he had a nervous breakdown within the first weeks of the semester and then disappeared without anyone knowing what happened to him. Within a week it was reported that Joel had committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills in his bathtub.
A week after Joel’s death, a number of strange things began to happen in the building where most of the TV Broadcasting stuff was located. There were a few accidents that resulted in students being injured. A light fell from the studio ceiling and hospitalized two of my classmates. A camera exploded and burned a student’s face. Equipment began to go missing, things weren’t working properly and people felt like something was watching them when nothing was there. It made people very uneasy in an environment that was already stressful. One night, I and a few students were working on a project late at night in our post production classroom. I went to use the restroom and when I got there, I felt as if someone was watching me. I could go, so I decided to just wash my hands and go back to the classroom. As I went to go wash my hands, I saw something in the mirror. It was Joel and he was looking at me. I turned around and he wasn’t there. I heard what sounded like footsteps outside, so I left the bathroom to see who was walking. I saw Joel at the other end of the dark Hall under a light. He looked at me and said, “I’ve got no purpose in life. This school killed the one thing I had going for me and I died. This isn’t a school; it’s a place where you pay thousands of dollars to get hazed.” He then walked over to his old locker number 1010 and he stepped inside it and closing the door behind him. I ran over and opened the door and there was nothing there. I thought about what Joel said and I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. He didn’t have anything to do after he dropped out which is why he offed himself. He was looking for someone to blame. I didn’t tell my classmates what happened because they probably wouldn’t believe. Boy would I ever be wrong.
The next morning, I was walking to my locker when I saw some kind of red substance seeping out of locker 1010 (Joel’s old locker). It looked like blood, but I wasn’t sure. I opened it to find a tape similar to the ones we use to record projects on. There was no name on it. I had to go to my production class, but when I got there, we had a few minutes to kill before our prof arrived. I decided to play the tape on the VTR. My other classmates were curious about it too after I told them I found it in Joel’s old locker. When it played, it started off with a black screen. It continued this way for about 30 seconds. Then it showed Joel with red eyes that were the same color as the substance that was seeping from his locker. He just stared for about a minute before he filled up a bathtub with what looked like hot water. I couldn’t believe what I saw. I thought this was a video he made of his suicide. Suddenly, our prof arrived to teach us. We were about to stop the tape when Joel said, “Good everyone’s here” in a demonic voice. He went on to say, “Since I no longer have a purpose in life because of the hazing you people have brought on me, I thought you should know that you’re all fucking screwed. I’ve been to the afterlife and back and I’ve seen things. Things that will affect you but not me mortals. Payback’s a bitch ain’t it? Oh but don’t worry I’m going to drop a few hints for you. The first event will be a tragedy that will both impact and frighten all of you here in the city, the second is a horrific event that will literally shake the foundation of our planet resulting in devastation for thousands, and the last event will be something so dramatic, so chaotic, and so cataclysmic that everything in your lives so far will be taken for granted. The world didn’t want me so have fun in the hell that will be coming.” Joel then proceeded to go over to his bathtub and open a pack of sleeping pills. I ingested a whole bunch of them before falling into his bathtub. He screamed in horror as the hot water burned him. He threw up from the large amount of pills he injected before dying. He fell forward and drowned.
Our prof was furious over what he saw. He thought this was a sick joke, but we didn’t know what to think of it. To this day we didn’t know where or how that tape got there. It wasn’t one of ours. The police investigated the tape but when they went to play it, they found nothing but a black screen on the tape thinking it might have been erased. The tape was eventually given back to us after the investigation ended. We viewed it, only to find that all of its content, the warnings and the suicide were all still there. I don’t know what the cops saw, but I guess we’re the only ones who can view it.
We tried to erase the tape, but its contents were still on it. We decided to destroy the tape. It didn’t make any sense to keep a tape we didn’t even own. Our Dean took it to a landfill and chucked it into a pile of garbage. As far as I along with the other know, the tape is in the landfill outside the city. If it isn’t damaged, it might still work, but I never want to view it again. If you find it, destroy it eminently. Do not view its content because you probably can’t unless you’re a student at Algonquin College. One thing’s for sure, Joel still haunts the building where TV Broadcasting is located and his presence can still be felt in all of the corners of the N building.