Sebastian didn’t wake up at eight p.m. For the first in four years, he didn’t wake up at eight a.m. 

He had always found routines important, and never broke them. Not once. Not on New Years Eve, not on his birthday, not after a drunken night. Not once. But today he had woken up at nine-thirty a.m. Yesterday was one of the most out-of-control nights he had experienced in a long, long time. 

He stepped out of bed, not sure what to do now. It was already too late for his usual run and 

he only had time for half a shower. He decided not to do both. 

The weather this morning was in his favor, though. It was one of the more sunny days of January, almost like the confusion Sebastian had felt yesterday, made way for sunshine. He knew that was nonsense, but sometimes pretending to make a change is better than failing when trying.

He went downstairs, still with a knot in his mind about last-day events. He started preparing breakfast for him and Oliver. He tried three times to make a decent meal. He gave up before the fourth time and settled with toast and coffee.

Loud noises from the bedroom made their way to the staircase. Oliver was awake too. 

‘Good morning, sleepyhead.’ Sebastian greeted him like they used to do when they were kids. 

‘That’s an epic exaggeration.’ Oliver sat down at the table while rubbing his eyes.

‘You shouldn't have drank so much last night.’ Sebastian felt bad, acting like a responsible adult as he did something way worse. But he couldn’t help it. He always felt kind of protective over his younger brother.

Sebastian handed Oliver a cup of coffee.

‘How was it, though? Beside the underage drinking.’ Sebastian would normally have scolded Oliver for drinking at seventeen years old, but he felt like he had no right to point out bad behavior.

‘It was nice, we just hung out, talked, and, yeah, drank.’ Oliver had now put blueberries on his cottage cheese toast and Sebastian did his best to look supportive of that choice. 

While walking to the living room with his phone he yelled: ‘How do you manage not to judge me for underage drinking, but you do judge me on my eating styles? I can’t seem to figure you out, Seb.’ 

Seb. He froze when he heard that nickname. No one had ever called him that, except for three people: Abigail, his old girlfriend, who had passed away years ago; Oliver, his younger brother; and the anonymous number that had been taking over his life. 

What if the anonymous number was his brother? Sebastian never thought about who it could be. Oliver could pull that off, he is one of the only persons who comes into Sebastian's house, he knows where their parents' house is, and he has his number. He fits perfectly in the image of this person. When he figured that out, he wasted no time to pull out his phone and send a message.

Sebastian Jones: I know who you are. The game can stop. Deliver the necklace back to my mother. 10:03 AM

Now that he knew, he first wanted to undo the damage he had caused his mom. He already had done so much to them, they couldn’t take this too.

Anonymous: Really? How about we start a little side game, if you guess right, the necklace will get back to your mother. If you guess wrong, the next and last challenge will be more difficult. 10:03 AM

His pride would be hurt so much if he got it wrong. But who else could it be? Abigail was… she had passed away a few years ago. His brother on the other side, has the mischievous in him. He used to play tricks and pranks on Sebastian a lot. The peak of his prankster career was when Oliver was ten and he was seventeen. He could never go out of the house without being pranked. He always acted like he hated it, but in reality, he enjoyed the attention. When Oliver would laugh, yell, and point fingers after he got a bucket of red paint on Sebastian's head, the attention shifted to him. He would have the full attention of their parents for himself. But then after a few seconds, his mother and father would praise Oliver. He remembered them saying, something like: ‘Wow, that was a really good prank. You are going to make it big in the prankster world.’ and then laugh about it, like it was a good idea.

He thought that was absurd. Oliver was praised for doing such things, and Sebastian didn’t even get one compliment on being promoted to CEO. He then didn’t care about their opinions anymore. 

Sebastian Jones: Alright, I’m guessing. You are Oliver. 10:04 AM

From the moment he sent it, he felt immediate regret. What if he was wrong? His challenge would become harder. How much harder? A strange feeling of defeat came to him. He could only wait on answers that were hopefully in his favor.

Anonymous: This decision will have consequences. 10:05 AM

Sebastian just stared at his phone. He didn’t know what else to do. It was unclear to him if he was right or wrong. Just that his text will have consequences. What if he was actually wrong? The last challenge was quite easy, but he also didn't want to get harder games. 

Sebastian tried to distract himself with breakfast and coffee. Not that it really worked, considering the reason his meal was ruined because of these messages. They had invaded his life, made him do things he would never even thought about doing, and messed up his sleep and mourning routines. He wasn't used to not having control over his life. This is all so confusing, he thought.

‘Hey, man, you good?’ Oliver asked, pointing at Sebastian's cup of coffee with his eyes. Sebastian had been pouring so much of his black coffee into his cup that it was now overflowing. He hadn't realized that his hand was burning under the touch of the hot drink until Oliver pointed it out.

‘Oh, I’m fine, I’ve just been distracted lately.’ He grabbed a wet rag and wiped the coffee off the table.

‘With what? You took off a week from work.’ Oliver gave him a look of suspicion and sat back down in his usual seat.

‘Yeah, I know, there are just so many things happening. I… I don’t know what to do anymore.’ Sebastian didn’t know why he was telling his brother. He had never opened up to anyone before, let alone to Oliver. He always felt like he shouldn’t burden him with his problems. And how would a seventeen-year-old knowing about his situation, help him?

And suddenly Sebastian formed a plan in his head against this anonymous person.

He could just take Oliver with him, to the next challenge. Whatever it was, it was always easier with two instead of one. If this person was Oliver, it would be in his favor to have him with him. And if he was not, then he could just help him win the game.

So, he made up a story: ‘One of his co-workers had organized a week full of little games. He didn’t know when what or who, only that he would get a prize at the end of the challenges.’ Oliver’s eyes lit up when Sebastian began talking about the prize. Guess they both had a soft spot for rewards. 

From that moment, they both waited patiently for new messages. 

But, they didn’t get any. Not that day and the next. It was radio silence on the other side of the phone, every time he texted the number. Sebastian felt so smart when he told Oliver about his new version of the situation that he wanted to receive new messages.