Seb leaned back in his chair, hands interlocked behind his head.
"…Well," he muttered.
"You don't say."
His eyes stayed fixed on the screen.
Another one of those videos.
He wondered if this was just another staged clip—one of those carefully crafted pieces meant to farm views and comments while pretending to be something deeper. Most of them were. It was always easy to tell.
The creators never bothered to step into the shoes of the supposed victim. They stumbled through it blindly, missing the weight of what they tried to portray. Everything felt hollow.
Seb knew.
He was a victim.
That gave him a sensitivity others lacked—an instinct for the slightest wrong note. Add his knack for reading people and these performances became unbearable to watch.
It was one of the reasons he had mostly abandoned movies. The only ones he tolerated anymore were war films or historical pieces. Chaos from real events had a texture to it that couldn't easily be faked.
A person's face was a canvas.
Every subtle movement told a story.
Joy brushed lightly across the eyes. Doubt creased the brow. Anguish lingered in the corners of the mouth, stubborn even when someone forced a smile.
Actors rarely understood that, or perhaps they did but cared little.
As expected, the expressions in this video clashed horribly with the emotions they were trying to portray.
How could disgust sit beside love?
How could joy exist with sadness in the same moment?
And why was someone smiling in the middle of what was supposed to be grief?
Each performance collapsed into accidental comedy.
But the woman in this video…
That was different.
Seb leaned forward slightly.
All he saw was fear.
The longer he watched, the more uneasy he felt.
Some staged videos were filmed in places that helped sell the illusion—old buildings, empty roads, locations with tragic histories. In those cases, the actors usually mixed fear with disbelief, sometimes even amusement.
She had none of that.
Just fear.
Pure, unfiltered fear.
The footage was grainy, clearly old, but still clear enough to get the gist.
There was something else.
Finality.
Like she had already accepted how things would end.
As if she had always known he would arrive.
"…She's either a very good actor or…" Seb trailed off.
His expression slowly became solemn.
"What I don't get," he muttered, "is why she drove there in the first place."
He scrubbed a hand down his face.
"From her expression it looks like she knew what was coming. She even brought a camera—though from the looks of things it' production date was probably in the stone age."
Throughout the entire video, she never spoke.
Not once.
She just drove.
Focused on the road.
Trying her hardest to escape.
Unlike the usual idiots who narrated their "haunting" like they were telling a bedtime story.
Seb scrolled down the page and opened her channel.
There were more videos.
Several of them.
He watched each one from beginning to end.
Near misses.
Close encounters.
Different roads. Different stories.
But something stood out.
In her first video, her expression wasn't fear.
It was confusion.
Extreme confusion.
She had been sitting on a bench, staring blankly ahead like someone who had just woken up from a dream. Then suddenly her eyes sharpened, clarity rushing in.
Her expression shifted.
Confusion.
Fear.
And something else.
It almost looked like she didn't know why she was there.
Seb checked the channel page again, searching for contact information.
Email.
Good.
He wanted to ask her a question.
Just one.
Even if that was all he got.
Vrrrrr!
His alarm suddenly screamed beside him.
00:12 AM.
"Uhhh… fuck."
He stared at the clock for a few seconds, feeling unhappy with the intrusion.
Then he set another alarm for 8:00 AM.
He hated alarm clocks.
Truly hated them.
But if he didn't wake up before noon, he risked missing David and the bus.
"Well… it's not like she'll answer this late anyway," he muttered.
"And even if she did… would she want to talk to some random guy emailing her in the middle of the night?"
He opened the blinking icon.
Not so surprising, a phone number was listed.
Seb stared at it.
For a few moment.
Then shook his head.
A bad idea no matter how he looked at it.
There was no need to disturb the poor woman over such a stupid question. Honestly, the question itself might come off creepy.
"Yeah… let's not do that."
He shut down the PC and went to bed.
4:54 AM
Seb's eyes snapped open.
He shot upright in bed.
His shirt clung to his skin.
Sweat dripped from his hair and his pillow more soaked than his rain coat in a rainy day.
He exhaled slowly.
Another nightmare.
As vivid and disgusting as the last one.
He wondered, not for the first time, if nightmares like these were what drove people to suicide.
Because honestly…
He was getting tired.
Really tired.
"I wonder if anyone's ever died from a heart attack during sleep," he muttered.
He tried to stand up but paused halfway.
"…Oh."
He looked down.
"Well, third brother," he sighed, "you seem very active today."
"No wonder it felt like someone stabbed me."
Eventually he stood up, wobbling slightly as dizziness washed over him.
He stumbled into the bathroom.
The shower lasted longer than planned.
Not that it helped much.
He was too tired.
At one point he actually fell asleep standing.
Only waking up when he nearly face-planted into the tiles.
"Yeah… senior coffee might need to step in today."
His mom had packed his lunch yesterday. He grabbed it while noticing someone had eaten one corner of it.
"Savages."
Breakfast followed.
Along with a dangerous amount of coffee.
Finally, he packed everything into his bag, plugged in his laptop and phone, then sat down at his PC.
Sleeping again wasn't an option.
Nightmares were bad enough.
But if he somehow managed to sleep peacefully for once, he'd probably wake up at 2 PM.
David would never let him hear the end of that.
The game started loading.
Then the system froze.
Entering Debugging mode.
Seb frowned and slapped the PC lightly.
Nothing.
Optimization started instead.
1%.
"..."
"…What kind of joke is this?"
He sighed and turned to his phone.
"Yo, what's the percentage?"
[The battery is at two percent. Should I initiate fast charging?" the assistant replied.]
"No. Normal speed."
[Alright.]
Seb got up and started exercising.
60 push-ups.
90 crunches.
Then he grabbed a paperback novel and started reading.
5:36 AM
"Seb," the phone chimed. [I'm fully charged. Your PC says it's at twelve percent.
The OG also requested external help.]
Seb looked up and nodded.
The OG was his name for his gaming setup.
"Good to know."
He returned to reading.
11:50 AM
His phone rang causing Seb to jolt awake.
"Shit. I fucked up."
He immediately unplugged the phone and answered.
David.
"Sorry bro, it seems I might be—"
"Yo, I think I might be late," David cut in.
Seb blinked.
"…Come on, Dave. Woke up late again?"
"..."
"You've got to plan better, man. Now I'm stuck here waiting for hours."
"..."
"Yeah, umm, Yeah, Sorry. I'll treat you for the mess up. I'll be there in like an hour."
"…Fine."
"Sorry again."
"Yeah it's okay. Take your time."
Call ended.
Seb sighed in relief.
At least he wasn't the only one screwing up today.
He packed the rest of his devices and wallet, then dashed downstairs.
"Hey—!"
June barely had time to react.
"Sorry—!"
BANG.
Door closed.
…
Seb had been waiting at the meeting spot for 23 minutes and 39 seconds.
He didn't know how many milliseconds.
But it was probably huge.
What was taking David so long?
He'd already had two phone conversations.
One with his mom.
Another with Jack.
His mom wanted to know where he was going and whether he had his panic button.
Jack, on the other hand, called on Alex's behalf.
Apparently Chloe wanted Seb's number, and Alex had given it out.
So Jack warned him.
Seb shook his head.
Bro's before hoes.
It seemed Alex had forgotten that.
As for Chloe…
He hadn't decided how to react.
Ignore her?
Yell?
Accept an apology?
Assuming she even gave one.
He still wondered why Alex had given it out.
He had his suspicions.
After all, Jack was known to simp.
Jack claimed it was Ava's idea.
Seb wasn't sure whether to believe that.
"Seb!"
He looked up.
"Bro, over here!"
Ah.
David.
On the other platform.
Great.
After crossing over, Seb finally reached him.
David ran over and punched him.
Hard.
Right in the shoulder.
Seb almost bit his tongue from the collision. he had been to close and was not expecting it.
Thankfully—Not the face.
But it still hurt.
He looked up, noticing the changes.
David had changed.
Deeper voice.
Dyed hair.
Taller.
Bulkier.
Seb rubbed his shoulder.
"So how are we getting there?"
David smiled mockingly.
"Sorry bro, forgot my strength."
"..."
Seb nodded. the debt had been paid.
David then turned and pointed ahead.
"That way. Train, not bus."
"yeah, I figured."
"Yeah, just making sure your brain is intact after the hit"
He smiled playfully
..................
The journey took about twenty minutes.
David spent most of it on a call.
Seb watched him grinning like an idiot.
"The joy of dating," Seb muttered.
Eventually, the train stopped.
They got off and waited for their taxi.
Soon, they were driving through a quiet street.
It was a rich neighborhood.
Wide lawns.
Tall houses.
Deep porches.
Cars lined the driveways—spotless.
One house had a white limousine parked outside.
Seb nodded in quiet respect.
David slung an arm around him.
"Liking the view?"
Seb nodded in response.
"How's she?"
"Who?"
"Sheila, you doofus."
David's expression shifted.
Guilty.
Seb raised an eyebrow.
"Something happen?"
"…That wasn't Sheila I was talking to."
Seb frowned.
That sounded ridiculous.
Who says "I love you" to someone who isn't their girlfriend?
"Shit," David muttered. "Wrong turn. Let's go back."
Seb's eyebrow rose higher.
Not your girl, huh.
They walked to the gate and rang.
A cheerful voice answered.
"Come in! What took you guys so long?"
"Had to do some things first," David replied.
"Sure, come in."
The gate opened.
Inside, luxury cars sat neatly parked.
A Porsche.
A BMW.
The front door opened.
A tall blonde girl stepped out.
Seb froze.
She was…well what else, but attractive.
They stepped inside.
The door clicked shut.
Suddenly—
She ran forward and jumped onto David.
Seb reacted instantly.
His leg snapped upward—
Stopping just short of her head.
She didn't notice.
Too busy hugging David.
Seb slowly lowered his leg.
David noticed.
His eyes wide open in shock.
The force. had this Bumpkin learnt martial art. May the lord be merciful
"Oh, we missed you so much!" she said.
"You need to come over more often."
"You've got Erick," David replied.
"They're boring," she said dramatically.
David turned her toward Seb.
"This is Seb. He'll help with the coding."
"Ah—he's so cute!" she gasped.
Then she pounced on him, hugged tightly.
Seb's hand itched.
She pulled back, still holding his arm.
"You must be talented."
"Uh, thanks."
He answered feeling bespectacled
"I'll go get the cookies!"
That explained the smell.
"Oh—and I hope you brought your swimwear! There's a pool outside."
She then left.
Seb simply stared.
The energy was a bit much.
"Your type?" David asked.
"…She called me cute."
"That's better than ugly."
"Give me your bag."
"Careful. My babies are inside."
"Yeah yeah."
"Go outside. I'll meet you there."
Seb stepped out.
Sunlight hit his face.
Fresh air.
The pool stretched wide.
Mermaid statues stood at each corner.
Almost lifelike.
Something at the base caught his eye.
A shape.
Like a girl.
Maybe.
"Pretty, right?"
Seb turned.
It was her again.
"Done with cookies already?"
Then he froze.
Swimwear.
"…You changed fast."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Come sit."
He sat.
She sat—
On his lap.
He raised his eyebrow
"Name?"
"Seb. Sebastian."
"Sebastian…" The name rolled of her tongue
"I'm Ericka."
Ericka?
Didn't David say Erick?
"Seb! come in the cookies are ready!" David called.
"Sure!" Seb answered back.
"Sorry, I need to stand up". Ericka nodded and stood up, "tell them i'll be in soon"
He nodded and walked in.
Inside—
He was greeted by the warm dough sell. There by the oven the same girl was kneeling handling the oven, just in a different cloth.
Cooking.
such speed, not possible unless
Then it clicked.
Twins.
Just as this profound secret grazed his psyche David helped clarify further.
"That's Amanda," David said. "The one outside is Erick."
"…Ericka you mean"
"She goes by both," Amanda said.
"Erick or Ericka."
Seb frowned.
Erick was a guy's name Right?
"Why both?"
Amanda pointed.
A framed photo.
Three people.
Two girls.
One guy.
The guy looked like them.
"Who's that?"
David smiled.
"That's Erick."]
He was a bit confused.
"…The one outside?"
"Yep."
Seb's jaw slowly dropped.