Truth
Daniel took a deep breath and figured his friends were just messing with him. The bit about the dream had certainly caught his attention, but he decided to play along for a while.
"Well then, I chose Truth." Said Daniel as he sat in the floor next to Jake and David.
"Tell us your name." Came Pam, almost mechanically.
"Really, Pam? You could have asked anything and y-"
"What is your name?" Barked David.
"Listen guys, I-"
"Your name." Said Jake, violently.
"Alright, fine! Fuck... Daniel, it´s Daniel, ok?"
They all sat in silence for a couple of seconds, eyes locked on Daniel as he started to wipe the expression of annoyance out of his face.
"You can´t lie to us." Said Pam without breaking eye contact.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"What is your name?" Barked David one more time.
"Guys, come on... This isn´t funny anymore".
"You chose Truth, so now you have to answer our question." Came Jake.
Daniel cursed under his voice and clumsily reached for his pockets, he then noticed he had left his wallet at home. Still, he took out a small leather journal and threw it to the middle of the circle.
"See? There it is, right on the top. My father gave me that journal and had my name engraved on the cover. Are we done yet?"
His friends leaned into the circle and carefully read the engraved letters. They then went back to Daniel while keeping their emotionless demeanor.
"Yes, the journal is right. So, what is your name?" Said Pam without flitching.
"For the love of god... are you guys high? Can´t you see? D-A-N--"
Daniel froze as he himself took a good look at the journal. The familiar binding he had seen a thousand times was still there, but the engraving showed something different. It used to read "Daniel", yet somehow a couple of characters had been added to his name. He never thought he would ever feel so eerily disturbed by two letters stitched on a piece of leather, but still, the fact that his beloved journal now read "Danielle" certainly sent a shiver down his spine.
"You guys are dicks." Said Daniel as he stood up and bolted towards the door.
"Don´t knock anything with your tail on your way out." Came Pam.
"My wha-? Just fuck off, Pam..."
Daniel was truly mad. At first, he thought his friends were just pulling an elaborate prank on him. However, after reading the engraving on that journal, something certainly felt amiss.
On his way back home, Daniel felt way hotter than usual. That was particularly strange considering it was really cold outside. Not only that, but he felt itchy all over. He thought about taking off his coat or his winter-globes, but then he figured he might just be coming down with a fever and decided to hurry and get in bed.
"Hi sweetie, I thought you were staying out late." Said Daniel´s father as soon as he opened the door.
"Erm... I felt a bit under the weather, I think I´m gonna take a nap".
"Alright, let me know if you need anything."
"Yeah, sure..."
Daniel was a bit confused, his dad had always been nice to him, but that was probably the first time he called him "sweetie". Daniel did not think much of it and went upstairs to his room. Once in, he mindlessly took off his coat and globes and dove head first into his bed. He was actually feeling sort of sick, so he just dozed off for a while.
After a couple of hours, he was woken up by a loud knocking on the door.
"Honey, dinner´s ready. Your mom made lasagna!"
Daniel sat on his bed and rubbed his eyes. He was still pretty much asleep, so he just robotically walked towards the bathroom to take a leak. Once inside, he pulled down his pants and tried to go about his business as usual. That´s when it hit him.
Written by crimsonstar on 24 February 2016
