Message Man ✧ joshler

chapter 3

Amazingly, Josh had managed to fall asleep after what had happened until dawn. He woke up a bit disoriented at seven in the morning, and had almost forgotten about last night's encounters, until he saw the letter on his desk and the phone Tyler had given him resting on top of it. Josh let out a sigh and ran a hand through his blue hair. He got out of his bed and proceeding to go about his daily morning routine.

After brushing his teeth and bathing, he headed downstairs where his father was making breakfast for the rest of the family. The smell of the fried eggs and sizzling bacon made Josh's mouth water, and he didn't realize how hungry he was until then. His sisters and his mom were still sleeping, making them the only ones awake in the house. Once his father noticed his presence, he greeted his only son, "Good morning."

"Morning," Josh muttered with a yawn, placing two slices of bread in the toaster. "Sleep well?" His dad asked, glancing at Josh. "Yeah, kinda," Josh replied with a shrug. He couldn't tell his dad about what had happened last night, Tyler had threatened him into keeping their encounter a secret. He's said that the words they exchanged had to be kept from the "normal people" in his life, or else they'd be at stake. Those words had remained embedded in Josh's mind, but he wondered for how long he could keep this a secret.

"Kinda?" His dad took out the plates from the cabinet, one for each member of the family and turned off the stove. "Yeah, kinda. It got a bit hot last night." Josh jumped slightly at the sound of the toaster as his slices of toast popped out. He let out a sigh and placed them on his plate beside the fried eggs and the bacon. "Oh, yeah. There was a power outage around this part of the neighborhood last night. Maybe that was it," his dad commented, placing the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. "Can you call up your mom and your sisters, and tell them that breakfast is ready?" Josh nodded and walked over to the staircase, climbing up a few steps. "Mom! Abigail! Ashley! Breakfast is ready!"

"Coming!" he heard Abigail yell back. Josh let out a small chuckle and walks back into the kitchen, taking his plate and utensils, and headed over to the dining table, taking his place at his usual seat. A power outage? Was that 'their' doing? Josh shook his head and sighed as he began to eat. His sisters soon made their way in with his mother and father. They ate silently only having small talk here and there. Sometimes mornings were loud and rambunctious, and others were like this one, where they didn't talk much, but the silence surrounding them was a comforting one. But for Josh, it wasn't comforting. It was tense and it crept on him, making him feel uncomfortable.

He ate silently, only talking once asked something. Once they were all done, it was Josh's turn to do the morning dishes. He stood up from his seat, and walked into the kitchen with his plate in hand. He set it down in the sink and turned on the faucet. His parents were somewhere in the living room talking while his sisters had decided to head upstairs to get ready for the day. Apparently, they had a more social life than Josh and had actual plans with 'friends'.

As Josh did the dishes, the bell rang, signaling that someone was at the door. I'll explain everything to you in the morning, Tyler's words resonated in Josh's head, making his eyes go wide. He looked at the microwave for the time, it signaling it was 8:20 A.M. "I'll get it," he heard his mom say. The sound of the front door opening made Josh swallow hard. "Josh! There's someone at the door for you, he says he's your friend from school!" Josh's eyes grew wide again. He bit his lip, and turned off the faucet, and dried his hands with a paper towel. He tossed it out and walked over to the front door. Standing there was a boy, with a small frame and build, short hair, and weird lines tattooed onto his skin. He wore a blue and white striped button up shirt, dark jeans, black Vans, and glasses. If Josh knew any better, he'd say the boy was 18 years old or less.

This couldn't be Tyler. This can't be the guy that practically threatened me last night, Josh thought. "I'll go finish the dishes for you, why don't you two head up to your room?" His mom suggested with a smile, and walked away when Josh responded with a nod. Josh let the boy in and closed the door behind him. The boy looked up at him with a sort of devious glint in his eyes, and said, "Hi, Josh". Josh's eyes grew wide. That voice. That's his voice. "Y-You..."

"Yeah, me," Tyler mocked, rolling his eyes. "We have a lot to talk about, so lead the way." He used his hand to gesture upstairs, and Josh nodded slowly. He walked back upstairs with Tyler trailing behind. He walked into his room and closed the door once Tyler was inside. "I thought you weren't ever going to show up. I thought this was just a nightmare," Josh said as Tyler sat down on the edge of his bed, looking around.

"Well, it's not. It never was. You should have known that by now." Tyler crossed his arms over his chest. Josh rolled his eyes, and sat down on the desk chair, so he was sitting in front of Tyler. He didn't feel like sitting down beside him, he creeped him out. "Whatever. So, what is this whole 'game'? What's this all about?"

"That's what I'm about to explain," Tyler said with a nod, and leaned over to Josh's desk, picking up the phone he had given the blue haired boy the night before. "This 'game' doesn't have a particular name. Everyone has a different name for it, but it doesn't really have one. Anyway, in the game, you're given a series of challenges that you must complete without your family, friends, and others finding out about it. You need to make sure that no one knows it's you completing these challenges or that you are a part of this game."

Josh furrowed his eyebrows, nodding slowly. This was already shady enough, now it just sounds downright illegal. "Every twelve hours for two days of the week, you'll get a message to this phone," Tyler held the phone up to him,"with your challenge on it. For now, since you're a beginner, your challenges will be sort of childish and simple. But once time continues to pass on, the challenges will get harder. You never know what challenges you'll get, but you can never give them up. You can't leave the game, okay? If you find the dare physically and mentally impossible for you to do, then you can pass it on to your Messenger, which is me."

"So, basically, it's just someone bossing me around?" Josh raised an eyebrow at Tyler, who shook his head at him. "No, not really. It's very complicated, but you'll find out what this is all about soon as you continue to play the game. I'll also be helping you out through all of the beginner challenges until the end of the month. After that, you're on your own, and you can only contact me if you are truly in trouble or danger, or if you can't do the challenge on your own. You'll be given utilities for each challenge, and you can only use them wisely the harder the challenges get.

And you can't tell anyone about this. You are now part of the game, a part of this organization, and you can't get out. You can only get out once you finish the all of the challenges you are given throughout the year. You'll be a part of this until the end of the year, when as soon as the clock strikes midnight, you'll be given your hardest challenge yet, and once you finish that challenge, you will be free," Tyler finished with a harsh look in his eyes. Josh bit the inside of his cheek, and nodded slowly. "Alright...I'll accept. I can't get out of this, so what other choice do I have," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Also," Tyler continued, "if you tell the police about this, you'll regret it." Josh's eyes widened at this. "So, remember, snitches get stitches."