Dergmann Creepypasta

I always used to scare my little brother whenever I’d watch him play games. Because his choice of interactive software was almost always influenced by my own recommendation and the library I’d already built up in our house, it was inevitable that no matter what he was playing, I’d know more about it than he did. This could frustrate both of us sometimes- if there was a certain obvious solution to a puzzle, or in the case the game was best completed one way over another, he often wouldn’t listen to my advice or just not understand it. I kinda feel bad that I would backseat him so much, but that isn’t the only bit of guilt I carry with me from those days.

My brother is a little bit of a scaredy-cat. I’m sure all big sisters try and spook their brothers now and then, but I assure you I was mostly mild-mannered in that department. …For the most part. Sure, I might try and show him scary videos or horror movies now and then, but for whatever reason, that side of me only really started to come out whenever we were both in front of a game console and he had the controller.

I think it was just more fun than the alternative. If he wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to help him, why don’t I make it harder instead? Or something like that. I didn’t need to justify it to myself then. It was just fun.

We always liked Valve games and I had gotten him to play Half-Life 2 over the Fall, on the Xbox 360 version of The Orange Box. I didn’t say much about it to him to begin with; we’d both already been spoiled on most things in the game from our dad, so no amount of pointing him in the direction of G-Man was going to scare the little guy. No, I had to get more creative. Now, he was in middle school- he was playing an M-rated game, one that was scary enough already- without batting an eye, after all- so no simple ghost story was going to do it. If I wanted him to squeal, I had to play to my strengths- and what I knew would get under his skin.

He had only just started the fourth chapter of the game- the one with the boat- when his progress was halted by yet another physics puzzle. I’ve watched it on YouTube since then, though I haven’t been able to play it myself. Usually, it takes the average player just a few minutes to complete it- there’s this ramp, right? But it’s bobbing flaccidly in the water, and the only way to raise it up is to put all these blue barrels under it by pushing them around in the water. The only catch is, most of the barrels you need to lift the ramp and continue the level are hidden at top of a pitch-black drainage pipe. The thing’s not long- a few feet at most- but for him, I made that tunnel last a mile.

I’m not sure what came over me, but the second he entered that area I knew what I had to do. I remember getting stuck on it myself (don’t make fun of me, I dunno how I did either) so I instantly recognized the puzzle once he started to drift up to it. It was just on a whim, but I started hyping him up for it like nothing before.

“Ohhhh. Oh, this part. Oh my god.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Nothing.”

How had I not thought of this before? I asked myself. There didn’t need to be something specific for me to get him scared about, made-up or not. So long as I gave a convincing performance, he’d get scared too, even if the mystery box was completely empty.

“Ohhhhh. Oh no.” He stopped at the mouth of the dark tunnel. I was snickering.

“Bea I’m not moving forward until you tell me what’s in there.”

“I’m not gonna tell you. Just go.”

“Bea, you’re scaring me! Just tell me what’s in there!”

I shook my head. “Not gonna do it.” I said with a smile.

He groaned. Over the course of the next few minutes he tried and failed to solve the puzzle without entering the death tunnel. No matter how many times he asked, I’d never tell him what it was that was lurking inside there for him. Not that I… could’ve, even if I’d wanted to. There was no answer to his questions.

“Tell me what it is or I’m gonna turn the game off.”

“It’s nothing! I was just joking.” I finally conceded. Still, he couldn’t work up the courage to enter the pipe.

“…I can’t do this.” He spoke again after another minute of walking a mere step inside the drain before realizing it was a thousand times scarier when he turned the flashlight on.

“Bart. Just go in there. I was literally just screwing with you.”

“You promise?”

“I swear.”

With a little more encouragement, the boy finally managed to make his way in there.

He moved slowly, like he was made of cement. If this was canon, Gordon Freeman would’ve wasted his whole day inside that stupid tunnel. Taking it so cautiously only made it worse when the flashlight had to recharge halfway through. When that happened, he couldn’t even will himself to move the stick forward. He just stood alone in a sea of darkness.

“You know you’re almost at the top, right?”

“Bea. I’m scared.” He was laughing, but I could tell he was joking. “There’s really nothing in here?”

“Nothing.”

He nodded.

“Thanks.” He replied just as his flashlight lit back on.

For whatever reason, he wouldn’t run. I dunno if he really thought something was watching him, or if he was just enjoying the suspense at that point. I wish I could believe that.

The flashlight went out at half-battery.

“What? WHAT?”

What followed was a breif tantrum of middle-schooler proportions. I should’ve tried to calm him down myself, but I just couldn’t get myself to say anything. It didn’t matter when he abruptly stopped two seconds later when a random ambient noise hit our ears.

“What was that?” He asked in a voice that seemed almost genuinely afraid for its life. I don’t know what came over me after that.

“What was what?”

“T-That noise…”

“Oh, that.”

“W-what was it?!”

“Dergmann’s in here.”

He ran back to the entrance as fast as he could, screaming all the way. I had no idea who “Dergmann” was or what came over me again. All I knew was that after that he turned off the console as fast as he could and we never played that game again.

I don’t see my little brother all that often anymore. When he’s at school, I’m at home, and when he gets home, I’m at work. It’s not anyone’s fault so much that it is just the passing of time- and I’m sure that, if I really wanted to, I could get another job that let us make these kinds of memories again- but I just can’t help but feel that, with the Dergmann incident being the last time we played, I’m responsible for fate not letting us have that time together anymore. I never wanted to hurt my brother, or scare him, or worry him, or anything, and like, I don’t think I did, but- it was just…

It was just fun. I liked scaring my brother.

And that’s probably okay. It’s probably okay that we do these kinds of things to the people we love. With just a pinch of fear, I made something we’ll never forget out of what began as essentially nothing. A minute-long puzzle turned into at least a half-hour of gameplay.

I shouldn’t feel bad about that.

Except…

I see him, you know. In my doorframe just when I’m about to fall asleep… or for a split second when I turn off the TV, standing behind me in the black reflection.

That blurry visage, one arm twice longer than the other- just a shadowy thing with no other defining features I can remember.

I shouldn’t know what he is, or what to call him.

But I do.

He’s Dergmann.

...I think I asked for this?