by Dante Steel
“You can’t fill it. You’re falling out of it!”
“It’s a gift. What can I say?”
“They aren’t real! I bet you’re an ‘A’ cup in real life. You’re overcompensating for something clearly.”
“Oh, so you’re the psychologist now? Guess I should just give back my degree.”
“Look, you two,” Gary started.
Nicoletta shook her head, and he sighed. He didn’t want to have to watch them fight.
“Gary is stronger than you are,” Elena said. “Face facts.”
“You want me to face facts? How about you face facts. You aren’t even mourning your mom. You’re just going around, pretending nothing’s happened—”
“You don’t know me. You don’t know my life story. You don’t have any right to judge me, okay? So you can take that white horse you’re riding on and—”
“I have no horse, Elena. I have no issues. None.”
“Oh, yeah? What about your fear of heights?”
“I think I’ve been handling that just fine, don’t you? If you would’ve let me finish—”
“No wonder you went into psychology. You clearly love to hear yourself speak.”
“I have no issues with you. You hate me for wanting you. For falling for you because you’re every bit as strong and powerful as you say you are. Fine. Hate me for it. But that won’t change how I feel.” Olivia blinked back tears. “I try to seem happy and upbeat all the time, but I’m not. Cut me and I bleed and all of that crap. I know you’ve had a rough go of it, and I’m sorry. I hate that. I want you to be happy. I do. But pretending that the death of your mother hasn’t affected you will only make things worse. Let me help you.”
“I don’t need your help!”
“Maybe you don’t. Fine, but let someone else help you. Gary or Nicoletta or someone else. Someone. Please. I know that death isn’t easy, and it affects everyone differently, but no one, absolutely no one, is better for it by shutting themselves away from the people they need the most.”
“The people who need me the most are back home,” Elena said, tears filling her eyes.
“But who do you need the most?” Gary asked softly. “Relatives you hardly saw or spoke to?”
Elena shook her head. Wordlessly, she began to cry.
Gary wanted to hold her, but he didn’t know if he could or should. Nicoletta stepped forward to hug her, and Elena accepted it. Olivia started forward, but Elena shook her head. Gary knew to stay back at that point. He wasn’t going to push his luck. Elena wasn’t ready.
Eventually, Olivia went away, and then Nicoletta departed too after saying her farewells.
Gary turned to Elena. “Do you want to talk?” he asked.
“Not right now,” she said. “I want to get drunk first.”
Which, for better or worse, was exactly what happened. Elena got drunk, and then she started to share some stories about her mom and how much of a helicopter mom she was and how she wouldn’t let Elena do anything. But as the night wore on, Elena added a few stories that showed her mom really did love her, and Elena began to cry again. This time, Gary did hug her. He helped her off the bench and into their room.
All night long, he held her. He was there for her. And when they woke up to start the day, she whispered, “Thank you.
“Always. Anytime. Anything you need. You know that, right?”
After a slight hesitation, she said, “I do.”
The other two ladies were already in the tavern by the time they made it there. Despite her agitation at Gary for wondering why she couldn’t play over the summer, Nicoletta played almost every day and for hours at a time. Gary loved it, but he couldn’t help worry if she was eating enough, getting out enough. Playing the game for so long couldn’t be the healthiest for her, but he didn’t want her to stop playing. That would be terrible. Same with Olivia.
He cleared his throat. “Right now, it’s just a rumor that he’s back. We need to find out for sure if he is.”
“You want to go and find him?” Elena asked. “Is that smart?”
“Find him and fight him are two very different things,” he pointed out.
“Yes, but seriously, that’s crazy,” Elena said.
“No,” Olivia argued. “What’s crazy is letting him fight hordes of vampires day and night so that he’ll be level six-hundred and sixty-nine in no time.”
“Grow up,” Elena said.
Olivia grinned. “Ninety-six is actually my favorite number. You know. Since inflation hits everything.”
Nicoletta face-palmed. “Seriously?”
“Don’t you have a favorite number?” Olivia asked her seriously.
“I do,” Elena said. “Two.”
“Oh, she burned you,” Nicoletta said. “I know. I’m on fire.” She held out her hand, and fire appeared on her palm.
“What the hell?” Gary asked. “Are you all drunk or something?”
“We need sleep,” Nicoletta said.
“We’re only getting about four hours a night,” Olivia said.
“What? Why?” Elena asked.
“Because we’re here so much,” Nicoletta said.
“It’s not easy playing so much, but we can’t let you two be here without us for long,” Olivia said.
“You want to know what’s fun?” Nicoletta asked. “Olivia’s come back. She’s staying at my place for the summer.”
“Yeah, I’ll figure out the whole job thing afterward. One more summer before I enter the workforce.”
“Why psychology and not psychiatry?” Elena asked.
“Are you…” Olivia gasped. “Are you taking an interest in my personal life?”
“No, I just think it’s pointless to go into psychology.”
“Oh, she burned you again.”
“Nicoletta, can you grow up? You can be so immature at times.”
“You’re snippy when you’re tired,” Nicoletta countered.
Olivia opened her mouth, hesitated, considering, and then nodded. “This is true. To answer your question, it’s because of the amount of school, the years of it and the cost. I can get to work now with a ton less debt and less hours too. Less pay of course but I could have time for a family.”
A family. Gary hadn’t thought about that. Kids. Nope. He wasn’t going to think about that now either.
He couldn’t help looking at Elena though. She hadn’t shown any signs of being pregnant. He wasn’t about to ask her if she had gotten her period since they had sex. He was close to her but not that close.
“We need to know where Smaug is so we can avoid him,” Gary said, trying to redirect the conversation back on track. “That’s if he is here.”
“All right. Fine. Let’s go, Boss Man.” Olivia saluted him.
“Don’t salute me,” he said.
“Why not?”
“I don’t deserve it.”
“You deserve everything I give you and then some.”
“If he doesn’t want you to salute him, then don’t salute him,” Elena said. “It’s that simple.”
“Can I salute you?” Olivia asked.
“Only if I can salute you.” Elena gave her the finger.
“Aw, that’s the salute I wanted to give you!”
Gary just shook his head, but all three of the girls were laughing so maybe their being ridiculous was a good thing.
He knew one thing for sure. Their squabbling wasn’t making him want them any less. If anything, he was turned on by their bickering all the more. Hey, couldn’t bickering be considered flirting?
Possibly. Or maybe he was just getting his hopes up.
Two days. It took them two days of searching, of wandering around that barren wasteland and killing a ton of various-shaped sand animals and humanoids, but they found their proof. A group of superheroes were running away from the northeast, in the general vicinity of where Gary had seen that dark castle in the distance.
“What happened to you guys?” Olivia asked.
“A ho
rde of vampires?” Elena guessed.
“No. It’s that guy. Smaug. He’s back,” one of the superheroes said. He was muscular, too much so. He looked more like a cartoon than man. His neck was invisible, and he wore a vest without nothing covering his chest. Stupid in Gary’s opinion. The whole look and the clothes. All of it.
“It’s worse than that,” one of the females in the group said. She was muscular too and basically looked like she didn’t have boobs.
“He killed Harrison,” another guy said. Gary couldn’t tell which one was speaking. A few had masks that covered their entire faces.
“So he’s back ten levels,” Elena said.
“No,” the overly muscular man said. “He went after him again and again. We told Harrison to not come back into the game so he wouldn’t be there, but he couldn’t. It must’ve been a glitch or something. He kept dying and dying, going back ten levels at a time, and then, he just disappeared for good.”
The muscular female grimaced. “Once we made our escape and ran away, I logged off real quick and called Harrison. His avatar is gone. He has to start over. His character is dead.”
“No way.” Gary let out a breath. “That’s not right.”
“No,” Elena breathed.
“What are you guys going to do?” Nicoletta asked.
“Honestly, we might head back over to the first issue,” the muscular female said. “We don’t want to be around for Smaug. He’s not worth it. He takes all of the fun out of the game.”
“Might be smart,” Nicoletta said.
“Or you should stay,” Olivia said. “If you fight the vampires, you level up quickly. You can have your revenge.”
Gary gave Olivia a look. She just shrugged. He could hardly believe it. She was trying to use these gamers for their own gain!
“I don’t know,” the muscular guy said. “Trin’s right. He takes all of the fun out of the game.”
“But Harrison, think of Harrison,” Olivia said.
“We are. He’s not gonna want to face vampires, not after this.”
The group walked off.
Olivia held up her hands. “I know what you’re thinking, but let me explain.”
“Go ahead,” Elena said coolly.
“I did it for you and Gary,” she snapped. “There aren’t a lot of gamers here in the expansion pack, right? Not yet. When word gets out about Smaug, even less will come. You know what’s going to happen then? It’ll be real easy for Smaug to find us. For Smaug to kill you and Gary. So, you’re welcome for me trying to save your lives because I don’t want to have to face Smaug again. I will if I have to, but I don’t wanna.”
“You’re right,” Gary said. “I hadn’t thought of it like that.”
“He will focus his attention on us,” Elena said softly.
“Yes,” Nicoletta said. “He always hunted down the groups who went after him before, and we fought him, and he didn’t kill any of us. He will not be happy to realize we’re here.”
“We really should go back over,” Elena said. “I wonder if that’s possible.”
“I sure hope it is,” Gary muttered. Not that he had much hope about it because he knew Haru, and he knew there would be a glitch or hiccup or snag that would render it impossible.
Chapter Seventeen
Sure enough, that night, Gary learned that was the case. It took him begging and yelling for an entire hour for Haru to show up.
“I told you I am not going to come when you demand that I do,” Haru said grumpily.
“Are you hungry?” Gary asked.
“No.”
“Tired?”
“No. Why?”
“No reason.” You’re just being more of an ass than normal, that’s all. “I want to get back to the first issue of the game. My friends and I. You know my team.”
“I do know your team, but I am afraid that isn’t possible.”
“Why not?” Gary demanded.
“Well, I might be able to for the flying girl and for the fire, but not for you and Elena. I’m afraid that the portal will not bring you back. There is no more portal.”
“Oh, but I bet Samuel August can go back and forth at will, am I right?”
“I do not know that.”
“Has he done that?”
“Not to my knowledge, no.”
“Well, damn. You do realize your knowledge is finite, right? There’s no chance in hell that you know everything.”
“Unfortunately, you are correct on that matter, Mr. Johnson.”
“How is it that he’s so much smarter than you?” Gary demanded.
“Intelligence is a matter of—”
“I don’t need you to explain that to me. I need to know why you haven’t gotten the best and the brightest minds working for you. There are other geniuses in the world, aren’t there?”
“Yes,” Haru said begrudgingly.
“Oh, but you won’t ask them to aid because you don’t want the world to know that it’s possible for someone to enter your game. That you willingly put a person into the game. That you can’t get them back out. Is that it?”
“Mr. Johnson, you constantly ask me to come, and then you only yell and berate me. That is not a productive use of my time nor yours. Allow me to go so that I might return to work.”
“Any of the tests working out?”
“Not as of yet.”
“Did you send an animal here?”
“No.”
“Are you going to?”
“No.”
“So these tests, then, what exactly are they?”
“They are not being run while I am here. Goodnight.” Haru bowed to him and walked off.
Gary had half a mind to storm after the Japanese man, but he didn’t. It wouldn’t accomplish anything.
The next morning, Gary woke in a foul mood. The girls were talking while he and Elena were supposed to be eating, but he just picked at his food.
“What’s wrong?” Olivia asked.
“I don’t know what to do.”
“With…”
“With the game. With Smaug. With my life. With whether or not I’ll get back to my life. With everything.” He threw up his hands.
Nicoletta gave him a sympathetic look. “I know what you’re going through.”
“You don’t. No one does.” He glanced at Elena. “Well, you do.”
“Yes. It’s impossible. It’s horrible. Nicoletta, Olivia, I know that playing the game is wearing on you two, but it’s nothing compared to actually living it. Yes, it’s great to have the superpowers, but it’s frightening. It’s terrifying. I wish I hadn’t told Haru yes.”
Gary winced. “I’m sorry. I wish you hadn’t.”
She shrugged. “Then Nicoletta or Olivia would be here instead.”
“None of you should be here. It’s not safe. Haru crossed a line by asking you. It wasn’t fair of him to use you like that.”
“I said yes.”
“Did you sign any paperwork?” he asked.
“No. Why? Is that a good thing?”
“It’s a bad thing in my opinion.”
“Why?” Elena asked.
“Because there’s now no proof that they did anything to you,” he pointed out.
“Shit. You’re right. I hadn’t thought of that. Everything happened so fast.”
“I’m sure that was done on purpose. Do you know where they took you?”
“No. They had me in a dark car, and the windows were tinted. I couldn’t see the outside world clearly. I hadn’t really thought about that until now. I was too worried about you.”
“They used your feelings for me against you. They were using you.”
“And they pulled my strings to get me here.” She hesitated. “Why do you think that is?”
Gary rubbed the back of his neck. “Remember what Olivia said? You and I, we’re the strongest.”
“They want us to take out Smaug.”
“That’s the only thing I can come up with.”
“Do you think they can take us out and are just dilly-dallying us along?”
“Wouldn’t surprise me one bit,” Gary grumbled. “I never liked Haru from the start. He’s always… I wouldn’t say he gives me the creeps because he doesn’t—”
“He gives you the creeps.”
“Fine,” Gary allowed. “There’s just something off about him.”
“It is his avatar,” she said.
“I know, but there’s something else, too. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just frustrated. We might be completely off base.”
“If we take out Smaug and they let us go home, we’ll find out real quick if our theory is right.”
“You want to do that? You want to try to take him down? We weren’t able to last time.”
“I know.”
“And the stakes are higher this time. You and I both are in the game and alive. If he kills one of us, it won’t be an avatar that’s dead.”
“I know, but we have to try.”
“I agree.”
Nicoletta cleared her throat. “Ah, guys? You do realize all of us are here, right? And if we’re gonna do something as stupid as go up against Smaug again, don’t you think all four of us should have a say?”
Gary blushed, embarrassed. “Yes, of course. Are you saying you don’t want to?”
“I didn’t say that,” Nicoletta said. “I just said it’s stupid. You can’t deny that.”
“No, definitely not,” he mumbled. “Olivia?”
“It won’t be easy at all to face him,” she said. “We might want to see if some of your new friends want in, Nicoletta.”
The Hispanic shook her head. “They aren’t really friends. They aren’t the best of players. They’re in it for the stats, pure and simple. They won’t dare risk losing ten levels. Are you kidding me?”
“There has to be other good players,” Olivia mumbled.
“You don’t think we’re enough?” Elena asked. “You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to, Olivia.”
“I’m not a coward if that’s what you’re insinuating.”
Gary cleared his throat. “No one thinks you’re a coward, Olivia, and honestly, I prefer it to be just the four of us.”
“Of course you do,” Elena said.
