He blinked his eyes as the blood trickled down from his brow. The impact of falling down the hill hit him hard. He had always been a bit more on the fragile side, but he never thought such fault and injury would occur to him. The blood was getting worse by the second, marking his eye in a dark, crimson red. The drowsiness quickly wore off due to the unbearable pain. Groaning, he composed himself.

W-What the hell, Huh? Where am I?

He looked around this unfamiliar abyss. It stretched endlessly, dark in all directions. Smelling something, a familiar scent, instantly reminded him of his brother. He began recalling his memories of his brother:

That dumbass...

He was in the dusty, spider infested room they called his attic. Since Tim hated cleaning so much, he challenged Martin, seeking revenge after a few past failures. Tim had to be better than his brother at something, and therefore, this had to be done. So he made a bet.

“Whoever gets found first has to do the other one's chores for a week!”

Martin laughed it off, for it was just playful to him. 

They played in turns, each one lasting longer than the last.

However, this time was different. Tim just wanted to be alone, away from his brother, and spend time by himself. So Tim ran far deeper into the forest than he normally would.

The foliage was thick with enough to hide him, thought Tim. The darkness of the forest, along with the surrounding leaves, camouflaged him far better than the last few times. He slowly started adding more leaves around him. While doing so, he heard an almost desperate voice, which startled him. 

“Tim, come out wherever you are. You know Mom isn’t going to like this. You’re always venturing further out than you’re allowed, and God, I hate it!”

Tim slowly backed away, but a single step caused the dry leaves under his boot to crackle in protest. Looking back, his brother wasn’t where Tim thought he was, but right in front of him. Two strong, muscular hands grabbed him and yanked him up.

“You fool, you know not to wander around too much. How many times do I have to tell you until it gets through your thick skull? And it’s not like your weak body can help you get out of any trouble you cause, either. What if you had been–”

The voice wandered off in Tim’s mind. His brother, Martin, like many older siblings, excelled at everything his parents threw at him. However, he lacked a sense of restraint, always out to reach what he wanted and always so cold and calculating and absolutely annoying in Tim’s eyes.

“–so that’s why you shouldn’t run off. Now wait while I lay out some food; Mom packed some food for you.”

With hate in his eyes, “You are a dumbass, always out to cause trouble for me, so what if mom was worried about me? You could have just told her I was out. You are such a stickler for rules, a nerd.”

Martin gave him a cold glance, one that would usually send shivers down your spine. 

“Tim, your nerd of a brother, has a game to play with you after we eat.”

He was about to yell at Martin to shut up, but he decided to choose his words carefully so as not to bury himself in further trouble. Also, he was ambitious and wanted to win, so he swallowed his pride, just once.

A small smirk was evident on Martin’s face.

“Hide and seek, maybe you will win this time.”

“You’re on, but if I win, you have to take me to that new movie.”

“And if I win, you have to stop running into this forest at every chance you get.”

“Fine.” 

A faint smile decorated Tim's face; victory and revenge were screaming in his mind, a trick already forming in his brain.

As his brother counted down, Tim found a small ditch covered in leaves. Soon, footsteps could be heard, close to the ditch. Tim stayed put, determined to keep his composure, his heart pumping louder than his mind could think.

As time ticked by, the footsteps gradually faded away. Tim let out his breath, tired from holding it in. However, he slipped a tiny bit, and the faintest cracks of twigs alerted his brother. He knew he was done for.

He sighed, struggling out of the ditch, closer to the path he saw before. Soon, he could hear Martin was on his tail; his fast, athletic build clearly giving him the advantage over Tim. Tim scurried to get out of the ditch, eventually sprinting to the path he saw before, his eyes gleaming with mischief.

“I'm almost there… Just a little bit more…”

He had finally reached the path he had seen earlier.

“Tim! Get away from the edge!”

“And lose?! I ain’t backing down now!”

He sprinted closer and closer to the edge and tried jumping over the barricade to the path on the other side. His foot got caught on the mesh, and he tumbled down the hill, his bones cracking and blood spraying as rocks shattered him, finally ending with his head smacking on a tree with a deafening crack.

 How did I end up like this, dying over a game? Is my life ending now?