Jesus, I hope this doesn’t get turned into a TikTok with Subway Surfers content playing in the background. I can’t imagine what would happen if one of these things saw this through their social media feed and Reset me.
I apologize, but I don’t really know how to start one of these things off. Everyone here seems to be so certain of themselves when talking about their horrific experiences here, and I’ve typed up seven separate options for the introduction and discarded all of them. What am I even supposed to say? ‘Am I the Asshole for not believing murderous cryptids when they tell me I’m their sibling?’
The thing is. I wasn’t always an only child. Years before the things found me, I had a brother and sister. They were twins, and always at eachothers throats. I was the youngest by nine years, and found myself caught in the crossfire between the two of them more often than not. They went off to college when I was six due to some sort of early graduation program.
My mom was in despair after they left. She had always felt closer to the two of them, as they had been closer in age to her and enjoyed writing as much as she did. I guess having a math nerd as a child when you’re a famous author is disappointing.
If my dad was upset, he didn’t show it. He’s a traditional man, and thinks that he’s responsible for providing for the family even though my mom makes more than enough for all five of us. He’s constantly on trips, and so the two of us never grew close.
My relationship with them got worse after the accident. I had blown up at both of my siblings because eleven-year-old me didn’t think she was getting enough attention from our family. They tried to push it off at first, claiming that I was just being the attention seeking youngest.
And then I stopped talking. It wasn’t a silent treatment, but that’s what they saw it as. For some reason, I had become mute (or nonverbal, I have no idea how to distinguish one from another without a doctor’s diagnosis) some time after the argument. My parents brushed it off for a few days, but when school continued and I still wasn’t speaking they grew concerned. They had my siblings come home, and told me that we would all talk it out and spend some time together.
My parents had grown frustrated when I didn’t speak even when they came home, and told my siblings to leave as to not encourage me further. For probably the first time in their lives, they agreed on something. My sister’s car broke down, and so they both took my brother’s car back to the college.
We learned that they died about five hours later. They apparently both stopped to get some drinks in order to ‘de-stress’ after the argument, and had gotten into an accident not a mile from the bar. My parents never admitted to blaming me, but they didn’t try to hide how they felt, either.
My mom hit a writer’s block soon after that, which my dad used as an excuse to go on ‘business trips’. We all knew he just wanted to get away from Kate and Neil’s ghosts.
But my family trauma isn’t what I’m here to discuss. This all had to do with the phone call I got a year ago. I was about to turn sixteen at the time, and had assumed that the phone call I received was a birthday call from some distant family member that had taken pity on me.
My sibling sang Happy Birthday to me for the first time. I panicked, before realizing that someone from my school likely programmed AI voices to creep me out, as I wasn’t exactly well liked. I was pissed off, though, and decided to snap at them.
“I don’t know who the hell you are, but if you think that this is going to upset me you’re wrong. Your shitty AI doesn’t quite capture their pretentious tones. And if this is Maddie on the other end of the line, I hope that you also receive the pleasure of having your asshole siblings die,” I snapped.
I know now how absolutely pitiful it sounds, but I was still in shock from hearing their voices and could hardly keep my voice from shaking.
Instead of whoever it was on the other end of the line laughing, or hanging up, they bickered amongst themselves. Their voices initially sounded like my siblings, but abruptly changed to two very different sounding people. I was only able to make out a few phrases, but I’ll record them here anyways in case I’m Reset.
“-asshole siblings-”
“They could just be saying that to make us hang up.”
“It should have Charmed her.”
“ You can try tomorrow.”
“—- forget?”
“Just Reset her.”
“She isn’t ready for that.”
“Fine. Wait. Give —— dad.”
I was very close to hanging up when I heard my dad’s voice. I was suspicious of this being yet another AI at first, but he comforted me and told me that there were kids playing around with the technology at his job. They had, apparently, heard that it was my birthday and decided to use the first voices in his phone to surprise me - unknowing of the damage they had caused.
It still didn’t explain why they had called him dad. Unless, of course, he had a long-standing affair with another woman. I didn’t care enough to do anything about it, but I did wonder if that would be enough to get the two of them to finally divorce with one another.
“Do you know these kids?” I asked, attempting to keep my tone light. I knew that he wasn’t going to confess, but wanted to mess with him anyway. I was, as many rising freshmen are, very spiteful.
My dad, unsurprisingly, hesitated.
“They are some close family members. I do hope you can forgive them. They’re hoping to see you soon, you know - I’ve told them all about you. I was thinking that we could all five go to that new library they’ve just built. The two of them are real book nerds, just like you.” he said, laughing.
I sat there, absolutely dumbfounded for a moment. There was no way that he had the gall to do something like that if those kids were my half-siblings.
“Looking forward to it,” I said, before hanging up. Everything about that conversation felt unnatural, but I didn’t feel like looking into it too much. My dad and mom could deal with each other. I’d already done enough to improve the quality of our family dynamic.
I didn’t realize that I had spoken. It felt so natural, and I remember my voice being completely clear, as if I had never stopped speaking at all. I believe that this was my first mistake, but knowing these things I could have messed up long before it.
I decided to go to sleep. As my dad had promised that he would be home the next morning and my Mom was fussing over her latest project. Apparently, a burst of inspiration had struck her a few hours ago, which I wasn’t about to discourage. Hopefully it would tone down her moping.
Not being concerned when my alarm clock didn’t work the next morning may have been my second mistake, because when I came downstairs at ten o’ clock my dad was sitting at the table with two teenagers. Two twin boys, one with slicked back hair and calculating eyes and the other who looked like he hadn’t brushed his hair in years. I decided to head back upstairs, as I could only assume that this all had something to do with my dad’s work in some way.
I hadn’t gotten three steps up the stairs when he called me downstairs. I sighed and entered the room. Apparently, him not ignoring me wasn’t a one-time thing. This was going to be a pain to deal with. I looked at the two boys with suspicion. They did not seem old enough to be working with my father.
“Oh, Hattie! I should have introduced you to these two. These are your cousins, William and Arlo.”
The more serious looking cousin smiled cooly, and clarified that he was Arlo. William sat by him, happily swinging his feet like some sort of overstimulated toddler. I looked at the two of them, deciding on whether or not I wanted to mess with my dad despite the kindness he had been showing this past day.
A day doesn’t make up for fifteen years, I decided, and dug my heels into this conversation. Hopefully I could get the two of them out of here before lunch.
“Dad, I don’t remember you mentioning any cousins to me,” I said, giving him a shit-eating grin. I wasn’t sure if the two of them were in on whatever he was doing, but I became more sure that they were when they exchanged a nervous glance with one another.
My dad looked at me, perplexed.
“Of course you remember them. I used to tell you about them all the time. They just couldn’t afford to visit us then and your mother didn’t like to travel. Don’t you remember calling them all of the time? You thought that they were the coolest people in the world, even though they were only three years older than you.” he said. I paused for a moment, wondering if he was aware of the bullshit he was currently spewing out.
“It was Niel that didn’t like to travel,” I said. I saw the two cousins flinch. That seemed less suspicious to me, as they likely knew now that they had accidentally prank-called me using the voices of my dead siblings.
“Niel?” my dad asked, seeming perplexed. I was just about to snap at him for not remembering something so crucial about one of his children when Arlo grabbed me by the wrist.
“Don’t you have to be at work?” he asked my dad, “I know Hattie has a day off of school, but your work started an hour ago. You should hurry and leave.”
I don’t know what happened to my dad in that moment, but he seemed to look far to afraid for a man who was only late for look. He practically sprinted out of the door, before William called out to him.
“Not going to say goodbye to your favorite daughter?” he asked with an easy smile. My dad spun around, wishing me well and hugging me for the first time in years. He glanced at my cousin, who nodded, before leaving.
Arlo’s hand was back on my wrist. It must have let go when I was hugging my dad. He squeezed his hand. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be comforting or not, but William’s smile put me at ease.
“I’m surprised that you don’t remember us at all, Hattie. We just slept over at your house a few weeks ago, remember?” he asked, his hold on my hand becoming more forceful. I wasn’t sure why he was doing it, but it made me uneasy enough that I nodded my head in agreement despite the fact that I had never seen this kid before.
“I’m sorry. My memory tends to be a bit fuzzy since everything happened with my siblings. I think I remember you guys now,” I said, smiling sheepishly. William seemed overjoyed with this response, and Arlo loosened the pressure on my wrist. I allowed myself to relax a little bit. My family were never big travelers with how Niel was in planes. Maybe people where they were often expressed themselves like this.
I didn’t like the way his finger rested over the veins of my wrist, as if he was checking my pulse. It was making me feel dizzy. I shook myself out of the suspicion. Maybe it was a tradition where they were from, and I was being a Xenophobic asshole.
Arlo studied my expression. I tried to school it into something more neutral.
“I didn’t think you had siblings, Hattie,” he said, his voice oddly melodic. I felt a sensation of calm run through my body, though I’m not sure why. I relaxed and gave him a smile.
“Oh. My apologies, you’re right,” I said before I had realized the words I had spoken. I went to correct myself and clarify that I did have siblings, and that they just happened to be underground, but decided against it. Who cared about Niel and…
My other brother? Yes, right, I had two brothers who passed, Niel and Wilbur. I felt a pang of guilt for forgetting about them so easily.
William gave me a reassuring smile before telling Arlo to release my wrist. He did, surprisingly, and my thoughts became more distinct. The shithead was probably cutting off my circulation.
My ears began to ring. Was that a symptom of bad circulation? I wasn’t sure. I had never been interested in science. I was far more inclined to writing.
“Do we have her, Arlo?” he asked softly. Arlo nodded with a satisfied hum, which made William’s never-ending smile brighten even more. I wished that I could be on whatever this guy was. He seemed like a little ball of sunshine despite the fact that he was easily seventeen.
“They were more difficult than the others. The parents were too distant from their child to reform them as a unit. We’ll have to take more care when processing her if we want to keep her mind open to future transfers,” Arlo said, looking at me as if I was some sort of specimen that a child had pinned to their ‘bug collection’ project. I shifted under the weight of his gaze.
“Sorry, I’m not following this conversation. If this is a personal conversation, I can give you guys some privacy,” I offered, hoping to get out of the room as politely as possible. If my dad was willing to be so kind to me just to prove something to these cousins, I could only imagine what would happen if I severed relationships with them.
William let out an audible gasp, before steeling himself. Arlo took a step closer to me.
Definitely not the right choice on my behalf. Fuck, I thought, praying that I could salvage the situation.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. I just didn’t want to intrude on your conversation if it was…” I started to say, before WIlliam interrupted me. He looked like I had kicked his puppy.
“I thought you couldn’t hear us,” he muttered, his smile fading. I shook my head.
“Oh, my ears were ringing if that’s what you meant. But I feel fine. If you need me to go, then…”
I could feel the room darkening around me. I heard William call out to Arlo, who only acknowledged him with a distant hum. I didn’t realize that I was falling until a pair of arms caught me, holding me with all of the care of a vivo tester.
I tried to open my eyes, and was met with two glowing lights shaped oddly like eyes. I was surely hallucinating. My desire to stay awake faded with this revelation.
My brothers would surely take me to the hospital.
I resigned myself to unconsciousness.
Not being concerned when my alarm clock didn’t work the next morning must have been a mistake, because when I came downstairs at ten o’ clock my dad was sitting at the table with two teenagers. Two twin boys, one with slicked back hair and calculating eyes and the other who looked like he hadn’t groomed himself in years. I decided to head back upstairs, as I could only assume that this all had something to do with my dad’s work in some way.
I hadn’t gotten three steps up the stairs when he called me downstairs. I sighed and entered the room. Apparently, him not ignoring me wasn’t a one-time thing. This was going to be a pain to deal with. I looked at the two boys with suspicion. They did not seem old enough to be working with my father.
“Aren’t you going to say hello to your brothers?” he asked me, and I looked over to the two boys sitting up at the counter. I had never seen them before, and was unsure of what my father was hinting at. I waved at the two of them shily, and became even more confused when the look on both of their faces brightened significantly - as if I was some sort of celebrity.
“Sorry, do I know you two?” I asked, trying to recall where I may have seen the two of them before. I felt something on the edge of my memory, but I couldn’t quite grasp it. If I had seen them before, it wasn’t recent.
My dad laughed. He hadn’t done that in years.
“You and your practical jokes, Hattie. I have to head off to work, but I’ll see you three later,” he said, ruffling Williams’ hair before walking out of the door. The air became noticeably colder when the garage door shut.
“William,” Arlo said, sounding perplexed. WIlliam looked at him and nodded - though he didn’t seem happy. I hoped that I hadn’t offended him.
“You’re a pretty tough one, aren’t you?” Arlo asked, grabbing my wrist. I recoiled without thinking, unsure of what I had done wrong. He looked infuriated.
“I’m sorry?” I asked, intending for it to sound like an apology but instead turning it into a question. William sighed.
I think that I noticed how absolutely fucked I was when the stranger placed his finger over my wrist, feeling my pulse. Someone had done it before, and though I wasn’t sure who it was, I knew that it wasn’t a particularly safe person.
“She isn’t aware, but she didn’t set it up correctly,” Arlo muttered, “I guess we ought to reset again”.
He looked cold and cruel. So much so that I tried to withdraw my hand. A wave of dizziness hit me upon the attempt, and the darkness clouding my vision gave me a terrible feeling of deja vu.
Two red lights, and this time I was not unwell enough to doubt what I was seeing. Arlo looked sickly. Inhumanly so. I tried to right myself in order to help my brother.
“She seems to be accepting it,” William commented, seemingly oddly optimistic for a person whose twin had turned a sickly pale shade, his eyes glowing.
“Not enough,” Arlo said stubbornly, causing WIlliam to laugh.
Arlo smiled. A liquid that I could only assume to be blood coated his all too sharp teeth. Something was wrong with my brother, and I wasn’t sure if I should help him or run. I looked around, unsure of what to do, and caught something odd in my peripheral vision.
My hands were coated in blood. It was so clotted that instead of dripping off of my hands it fell off in clumsy chunks onto the kitchen floor. I tried to scream and found myself unable to make noise.
Was I awake?
“Quit taunting the child, Arlo,” WIlliam said sternly, and the blood faded. Arlo looked healthier too, much to my relief.
“Needed to scare her before I reset. It speeds things up. I learned from the best,” he said, grinning cockily.
Not being concerned when my alarm clock didn’t work the next morning was likely the best thing that could have happened to me. I looked down at my hands, which were pristine. Too pristine, in fact.
I could feel the phantom feeling of warm, thick liquid coating it. Blood. I shook my head. I was being dramatic, a right reserved to my mother and her books. I had never been one to write or read.
Why had my dad called me a book nerd, then?
I felt my fear before I understood it. I didn’t like books, and I didn’t read. I was a calculated mathematician, taking Calculus Two in the tenth grade despite the fact that I was nearly failing my on-level English class. My dad hadn’t tried to get me into reading since my siblings had died.
I heard voices downstairs. Two young teens, about the same age as my siblings had been when the accident had happened.
The accident.
I didn’t have siblings, a fact which felt unnatural to me. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but my gut was telling me that going downstairs was not a good idea. I didn’t understand until I heard William tell my dad that he was going to ‘wake up his sister’.
I remember, now. It hit me when I was pretending to be asleep, acting content enough to make that poor bastard’s spineless self hesitate before leaving the room. I nearly screamed, and ended up turning around ‘in my sleep’ because I couldn’t bear to be facing away from Arlo’s brother. I was glad that Arlo hadn’t waken me up. If that freak had checked me for my pulse, he would have known that I was not only awake, but aware of what he was.
I don’t know how long I have until they come up here to wake me up again. I do not know how time works with these things works, but I hope that I will be able to regain my memories if I see this post after another reset.