Wake me up at 4:20/ Frerard

How it began

Hey guys, this story is basically about the Blue Whale Challenge- a game that began on a Russian website before moving to the dark web. I do not recommend playing the game, I'll link a video above explaining it better than I can. Trigger warnings for the whole fic because I don't like spoiling much. 

Frank sighed as he walked home from school, the ice cold rain hitting his face and sending shivers down his body from the cold. He could see his own breath when he exhaled, a small vapor of mist clouding his vision. He ditched his bookbag when he entered the warmth of his home, along with his now soaked hoodie. He rubbed his hands together, trying to warm them up as he walked up the stairs to his room. The steps creaked under his feet, echoing through the quiet hallway. 

He felt a small buzz in his pocket from his phone but he decided to ignore it for now, not caring to check his phone for what was probably a text telling him he had ran out of data for the month. It's not like he had any friends. He rolled his eyes as he could hear yelling coming from his parents about having soaked the floor because he was dripping wet and coming home late.

"Maybe if you hadn't forgotten to pick me up then I wouldn't have had to walk home in the rain!" Frank shouted pissed before slamming his room door closed, rolling his eyes as he could hear his parents now yelling about slamming the door. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

His black hair fell in front of his face, dripping small drops of water that either fell to the floor or onto his clothes which were dripping as well. He pulled off his soggy black polo shirt that was part of his school uniform and tossed it in the laundry hamper along with his Khaki school pants. Getting dressed in dry clothing, he finally decided to glance at his phone. His tired eyes were filled with surprise when he actually got a text from someone, though it was an unknown number.

Do you wanna play?

Frank arched his eyebrows in confusion, play what? He rolled his eyes as he realized it was probably a wrong number; probably meant for a friend asking them if they wanted to play connect 4 or chess online. He ignored it, setting his phone down and shaking his head as he laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling and listed to the yelling of his parents in the background.

His mom was shouting at his father, who was most likely drinking a beer and ignoring her. The sound of a bottle smashing ricocheted in frank's ears as he rolled over onto his side. His phone buzzed again and he sighed, grabbing the small rectangular object. The same number had texted him:

Answer me

Frank decided to answer the person, sighing quietly as he tried to drown out the voices and yells of his parents by pressing an ear against the pillow he was laying on.

Play what?

The small ellipsis dots appeared on his screen as the other person typed.

A game, it's called the Blue Whale Challenge

"What?" Frank voiced out loud in confusion, automatically assuming the challenge was about swimming or something to do with water.

I don't know what that is

Again, the dots appeared on his screen and Frank waited in anticipation for the person to reply

Everyday I give you a challenge, over time the challenges get harder, but you have to be willing to play because there's no backing out. The challenges are simple, things like waking up early at the beginning and slowly progressing to harder things

Frank debated it in his mind, if he said yes he would have to do these stupid challenges but he would be able to actually interact with someone. Frank was lonely, everyday loneliness crept up inside of him and was slowly infecting him. There was no harm in playing a game that was just a truth or dare game at its roots, without the truth. He stared at the small paragraph and finally decided on an answer. 

Fine, how many challenges are there?

Frank bit his lip nervously, not knowing what he had agreed to. The person didn't reply for a while, it was almost half an hour later when frank felt the soft buzz of his phone and shot up to read the reply.

50, your first challenge will be given to you tomorrow- Goodnight Frank.

Frank felt his body go cold as if he was in the rain again, they knew his name. Surely it was just someone from school, but then again rarely anyone bothered to learn his name. He didn't reply or ask how they knew his name. He just laid in his bed and stared at the ceiling again, eventually falling asleep despite the yells of his parents.

Despite convincing himself it was probably just someone from school, suddenly, Frank no longer felt alone anymore.