Christmas Full Throttle
Part 9: Two Who Are Texting
They didn’t move on until the photo booth was out of sight. Not in a hurry. Not suspicious. Just like people who had taken a photo and now urgently needed to go somewhere, without really knowing where.
Only behind the stand selling roasted almonds did Lea stop. “Phones out,” she said calmly. “But no typing. Just reading.”
Jonas pulled his phone out. The last chat was still open. The message from the booth. The words felt burned into the screen.
“This isn’t just user017_xd anymore,” he said. “The writing style is different.”
Sofia nodded. “Yeah. Fewer emojis. Less chaos. More… control.”
Mehmet frowned. “So what, now we’ve got two people texting us?”
Lea didn’t answer right away. She stared at Jonas’ screen, like she was trying to read something between the lines that wasn’t actually there.
“Yes,” she said finally. “And that’s not a coincidence.”
Jonas scrolled back through the chat. The older messages from user017_xd felt different. Casual language. Half sentences. Jokes you didn’t get right away.
“user017_xd wanted us to ask questions,” Jonas said. “This one wants us to do exactly the right thing.”
“Or exactly the wrong thing,” Sofia added.
Lea nodded slowly. “One is pulling us toward the truth. The other wants to steer us.”
Mehmet crossed his arms. “Great. Two strangers. One nice, one smart. Both of those scare me.”
Jonas’ phone vibrated again. Everyone looked at the screen at the same time.
Unknown: “You were at the booth.
Good.”
Unknown: “Stay alert.
Not every hint is help.”
“They know where we were,” Sofia said quietly.
“And when,” Lea added.
Jonas typed. Deleted. Typed again. Deleted it once more.
“Don’t reply,” Lea said immediately. “Not yet.”
Jonas lowered his phone. “I don’t like this,” he muttered. “It feels like someone is walking behind us, without us hearing any footsteps.”
They kept moving. Past stalls, lights, people who had no idea that someone was trying to move four teenagers like game pieces.
“What about user017_xd?” Mehmet asked. “Since the last message earlier, there’s been nothing.”
Jonas checked. “Silent.”
Sofia raised an eyebrow. “That’s either good… or very bad.”
Lea stopped. She turned to face them. “We change something.”
“What exactly?” Jonas asked.
“From now on, we don’t react to messages,” Lea said. “We observe ourselves. We decide ourselves.”
“And Tom?” Mehmet asked.
Lea looked toward the stage. They couldn’t see it from here, but they could hear it. Applause. Music. Announcements.
“Tom is our anchor,” she said. “If someone is lying, he’ll notice it there.”
Jonas’ phone vibrated a third time. This time the message came from a familiar name.
user017_xd: “You’re close.”
user017_xd: “But right now,
you’re listening to the wrong voice.”
Sofia audibly gasped. “Okay. Chills.”
Lea stepped closer to Jonas and read the message again.
“They know each other,” she said quietly. “Or at least they know about each other.”
Mehmet shook his head. “This just keeps getting better.”
Jonas put his phone away. “From now on, one rule,” he said. “We don’t blindly trust either of them.”
Lea nodded. “Exactly. We collect. We compare. And we don’t let ourselves be pushed.”
They stood still for a moment. Lights reflected on the ground. Somewhere, kids were laughing.
And right in the middle of the Christmas market, it became clear: they were no longer just watching. They were part of the game now.
And the game had just changed the rules.