A black haired boy with a pair of dazzling brown eyes suddenly sat up from his bed. His head is soaked in sweat. Lips pale in fright from whatever dream he had.
Kevin woke up in a daze. His sleep was unusually uncomfortable. It was like he had a nightmare that he could not remember.
It took him a moment to snap out of his daze and looked at the clock to see what time it was now.
4:30 AM.
That too early for his usual wake up time. He is now clearly convinced that he had some sort of a dream he cannot remember. From his experience it has always been the case.
He wanted to go back to sleep. Spend another hour under the covers. But now that he is awake, that is impossible. Instead of sleeping, he might end up just spending the time in daze.
So he just got off the bed and proceeded to start his morning rituals. That will make him less aggravated with the hour spent. It would also earn him some good points from his mother if she will not end up waking him later.
Although he is already 18, he is still quite reliant on his mother. Who asked him to be the only son among the children of his family. They are just too paranoid about his safety growing up for some reason.
It wasn't that he is a girl to be treated with such fragile handling. His mother and the beautiful and willful sisters of his went as far as brainwashing him that he is a girl when he is younger. To protect him from tigers or whatever they used to scare him with.
That only stopped when their father finally went home after a few years of working for the family. He remembered quite a mind blowing moment back then when his father told him that he is a boy. And boys don't need to dress like a doll or anything like that.
Anyway that is besides the point. All he wanted to say is that he is a well-loved child of the family. They cared so much that it is sometimes crippling.
Not that he minds it though.
Going down stairs he decided to make some breakfast for the whole family(minus his dad. He still hasn't come home for like a year now). That would keep his mind off the nagging feeling that something will happen this day.
Losing track of time, he only knew how long he spent in the kitchen when he saw the digital clock by the counter showing 5:00 AM. It was not that he was particularly busy or anything not notice the passage of time, he really just felt weird and all.
His mother took the chance to appear at this time. She has long brown hair with a pair of soft green eyes. She looked quite surprised at him on the counter and preparing breakfast. But nevertheless, she smiled in gratitude for making her work less.
"Morning mom." Kevin greeted as he placed a plate he had prepared for her. He then placed a kiss on his mother's cheek as he then proceeded to the counter again to get the mugs he prepared.
"Morning." His mother, Melissa said she took a sip of the tea Kevin has prepared for her. "You're early today. Are you going to ask for an increase of your allowance today?"
"MOM!" Kevin was indignant upon the accusation. Although an increase is good and all, he did not do this today….maybe he will do something like this another day after he reports to his college today. That is a plan.
His mom only chuckled at his reaction and said. "First day jitters?"
Kevin did not speak, instead he placed the remaining breakfast he made to the table. Matching his sisters' favorite morning drinks and all.
"So what is the matter Kevin? It's rare for you to prepare breakfast for us." His mother said as she started digging her plate.
"Just a nightmare. I can't sleep again, so I ended up doing breakfast." Kevin said sullenly as he felt his hour of cooking is not worth the teasing he received.
His mother only hummed as his sisters started to arrive at the table one by one.
"Wow this is rich." His eldest sister, Rose said as she took her seat like some sort of queen. "What's up today?"
"Not you too!" Kevin groaned as he placed his plate on the sink. "Am I wrong to do something like this?"
"You made all this?" His second sister Jenny asked in awe. "You did a good job! Will you do this everyday?"
"NO!" Kevin replied quite strongly. His morning felt even worse than when he woke up. Are they mocking him for being too lazy on normal days?
"Don't be too angry big bro. If you think about it from the perspective of a partner, you'll score a perfect score with this alone." Annie the youngest of the family said as she thanked Kevin for the breakfast.
Just as he was feeling touch at the girl's words, and was feeling that only younger sisters know how to comfort older brothers. The girl's following ones destroyed the just warming heart he felt.
"Only that you don't have a partner. So matter how much of a dream boyfriend you are, no one will tell you what I just said." Annie said as she sip into her mug of chocolate.
"I take back the compliment I had for you in my heart. You're much more poisonous than our elder siblings." Kevin ended up snapping and walked out of the dinning area. Returning to his room to prepare for his first day in college.
The girls on the table only laughed at his annoyance. Much to Kevin's low mood as he heard it as he was going upstairs. Sometimes he wonders if he is indeed a child of this family with how much they like to bully him.
In his room, he took the bag he prepared the night before. There are still no books issued so he only prepared a small bag. Inside it was a pen, notebook, phone, wallet and some personal hygiene and skin care products.
Growing up surrounded with girls, his bag is more or less prepared with some powders, lotion and sunscreens. So unless it was an unexpected trip with him being less prepared, he is always at least with some skin protection.
Swiping his phone he was prepared to check his schedule for today. He remembered writing it on his memo pad.
But just as he was about to press the memo pad, a sudden notification popped out on the screen. It was a weird add or text that shows some jumbled letters and binary numbers. And the oddest thing, he remembered not turning on the Wifi or his data to access anything.
"Damn it. Are you going to die on me now?" Kevin said, feeling a little emotional at his phone. It has accompanied him for like four years now, he is more or less invested towards it with how long their relationship was. Other than the fact that he did not have the money to replace it, he really is fond of this gadget of his.
Finally the chaotic text has receded on the screen. The only thing that was left was a yes or no button in green and red. The text before the button says.
[You are selected to be a participant of a very special game! Will you be willing to participate in this game?
Yes / No]
"Is this some sort of a new virus?" Kevin said as he pressed the no button. He is not interested in some games. Although he plays sometimes, his grades just won't allow him to invest too much time on them.
He has clearly pressed the [No] button. But the phone screen only refreshed and once again showed another yes or no question.
[You are judged to be a suitable candidate for a fate changing event! Will you accept this chance to change your fate?
Yes / No]
"Tempting this offer is. But no thanks, I already accepted my life as it is." Kevin said as he pressed another No. He hopes that his phone will be fine after these messed up questions are answered. He needs to check whether he is forgetting something for the day.
The phone screen then turned normal as he wished. Only that he felt that his eyes might be having some problems. He blinked one then twice to make sure he is not hallucinating. He even rubbed his eyes to be sure.
There was a floating screen in front of him. It was like a product of some future technology. In it were some words Kevin thinks that happens only in novels.
[Starting….]
[....Host candidate selected…]
[Checking candidate qualification…]
[....passed…..passed…..passed]
[Host confirmed]
[Initiating binding]
[....all protocols complete….]
[Consent given….none]
[Temporary communication initiating]
[System 0B163. Greets the host]
Confirming that he is not dreaming or anything, Kevin could only utter.
"Da fuck?!"