“That’s not it at all,” I said, looking from Amanda to John and back again. Suddenly, a really serious tint filled the air. This wasn’t just some fight. At least, not for her.
She turned around, walked to the kitchen table, and grabbed my phone.
“You got a call earlier. You didn’t hear it, of course. So I answered.” She sighed. “And then I went through it.”
My brows knitted together. “So?”
“Who is she?” Amanda asked, pulling up a photo and turning my screen around so I could see it.
Before me lay a bright image of a curvy winged woman with violet eyes wearing a string bikini and holding the Mace of Justice.
“Orgina?” I asked, biting my bottom lip. “She’s like, the Guardian of the Void. She’s in the–”
“Yeah, Jack, obviously she’s in the game, and there’s nothing wrong with there being a picture of an angel with her tits hanging out on your phone, I guess. Except that she’s not real.”
The breath caught in my throat. “I know she’s not real, Amanda. She’s a character in the game.”
“And why is that, Jack? Why isn’t she real?”
“I totally don’t understand what you’re saying,” I said, as confused as hell. “She’s not real because she’s not. The same way the tooth fairy isn’t real.”
“She should be,” Amanda said quickly. “Not the comically top-heavy angel girl, but someone. There should be a real live girl on your phone, Jack. I want that for you. You’ve waited to have a life long enough.” She blinked back tears. “I know everything you did for me. I get it and, when I got into college, that was supposed to be the end of it. You were supposed to be free, and what happened? I went and got myself knocked up and screwed you in the process.” She shook her head. “No more. I’m not going to hold you hostage for eighteen years just because I got drunk and frisky one night. You deserve a life, and you deserve for it to start right now.”
“You’re being dramatic,” I said, taking a deep breath. “This is about diapers and a video game.”
She walked back toward me, thrusting my phone into my chest.
“I want you to leave.”
“What?” I asked, sure I had misheard. “I don’t–”
“I want you to get out, Jack. I need to set you free of this. You deserve that,” she said, unable to keep blinking back the tears and letting them roll down her cheeks.
“Amanda,” I gasped. “You’re being stupid. If I wanted to leave, I would. Let me make my own decisions, okay?”
“I wish I could.” She nodded and marched toward the door. With her baby somehow still asleep in her arms, she pulled the door open. She motioned toward it. “But you wouldn’t. You’d throw yourself on the sword for John and me, and I won’t let you anymore. Go get a girlfriend, play with your friends, and don’t worry about diapers. Please, Jack. Please. Just go.” She blinked back barely contained tears. “Now.”
Amanda’s eyes were almost unreadable to me now. The only sensation I could decipher from them was exhaustion, complete and utter exhaustion.
“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, shrugging as I stared back at her. “Where am I supposed to go?”
“That’s the beautiful thing, Jack. You’re free. You could go anywhere you want, maybe even Kingdom of Heaven?” she said and shut the door in my face.
Then John started crying.
2
“What can … three dollars and twenty-six … No! Twenty-seven cents get me?” I asked, digging through my pockets as I looked at the middle-aged lady behind the hotel bar.
I had never really been this guy, the guy breaking himself in the lobby bar of a roadside motel in the middle of the night, but I had cleared out the little bit I had in my bank account to get the stupid room and – now that I was in it – I really didn’t want to remember much about tonight.
“My pity,” the woman said, looking at me like I was something she’d wipe off the bottom of the overly ornate cowboy boots she was wearing. “Beers start at four fifty during prime time.” She shook her head.
“Prime time?” I sneered. “It’s two o’clock in the morning.”
She looked me up and down, her opinion of me somehow lowering even more as she reached my face.
“The thing is, Junior, for men whose testicles have already dropped, this is prime time.”
“Ouch,” I said instinctively, balling the tragically small wad of cash up into my palm and stuffing them into my pocket. “How about a water then?”
She pointed toward the door. “There’s a fountain over there. Beside the trash cans.”
“I guess that’s fitting,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair and standing up from the wobbly bar stool I’d called home for the last twenty or so minutes.
“Stop jerking the kid’s dick, Diana,” a guy from a couple of stools down shouted, looking over at me. He was a little older, maybe thirty-five or forty. He wore a dark blue suit way too nice for his surroundings and a loosened tie that was barely hanging from his neck.
The barmaid, Diana, rolled her eyes. “I’d have to find it first, Hector. Something tells me that wouldn’t be easy.”
God. It was like everyone I met was taking turns saying meaner and meaner things to me. If the pattern continued, I was a chance meeting away from being assaulted with “yo momma” jokes.
“Give the kid a beer,” Hector said, lifting his dark long-neck bottle up in the air and tipping it toward me. “It’s on me. He looks like he could use it.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I said, nodding my appreciation. “I mean, thanks for the offer, but I should probably be getting up to bed anyway.”
“Not those beds,” Hector said, motioning for me to come over to where he was sitting. “Not with the lumps in them anyhow. Those beds aren’t exactly meant for sleeping, if you know what I mean.”
“When I checked in, the guy behind the desk asked me if I wanted the hourly rate. So, yeah, I know what you mean,” I said, shooting him an almost despondent look and shaking my head.
“Sit down,” he said, patting the stool next to him. “Tell me all about the woman who sent you here.”
“Is it that obvious?” I asked, walking over and plopping down on the stool next to him. He smelled of mint gum and alcohol that was more liquor than beer, leading me to believe he had been drinking before he got here.
“No,” he answered, chugging his beer in one giant gulp before slamming the empty down on the counter. “But it’s always a girl.” His eyes cut over at me. “Unless it’s a guy.”
“It’s a girl,” I said, catching the beer Diana slid toward me before putting another one in front of Hector. Somehow, the bottle was already to his lips before I got my next words out. “My sister actually.”
“Your sister?” Hector balked, nearly choking on his drink. “Did I drive further south than I thought??”
“Very funny,” I said, taking a swig myself. The beer was cold, but a little stronger than what I usually went for. Still, I swallowed it happily. Maybe this chatty stranger would buy me enough of these so I wouldn’t have to remember tonight at all. Then, maybe Amanda would come to her senses and give me a call or something. “I help her raise my nephew, or I used to, I guess. She got mad at me tonight.”
“You steal from her or something?” he asked, smiling over at me as he raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
“What?” I scoffed, setting the beer down and shaking my head. “No. Nothing like that. We can barely afford to keep the lights on. Neither of us have anything to steal.” I took another swig. This was starting to taste a little better already. “Not that I’m the kind of guy who would do that, anyway. I’m basically a Boy Scout.” I looked over at him, suddenly very aware I had no idea what he was doing out here tonight. “Not that I’m judging or anything. I know what kind of hotel this is.”
“Calm down. I’m not cheating on my wife,” he said, before finishing his beer and motioning for Diana to shoot him another one, which she did q
uickly. As he brought the new beer to his lips, he casually threw in, “She’d dead so it wouldn’t exactly be possible.”
“Oh,” I muttered, looking down at my hands the way I always do when people say something all deep and shit that I don’t know how to react to. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“How do you think I feel?’ he asked, slamming the already empty bottle down onto the counter.
“You’re a pretty seasoned drinker, aren’t you?” I asked, eyeing the bottle and trying to change the subject from dead wives and cheating spouses.
“Nah,” he shook his head. “On the contrary. I don’t get to do it nearly enough, which is why I’ve got to take advantage of it when I can.” He put his elbow up on the bar and rested his head against it. “So, if she didn’t catch you putting your grubby fingers somewhere they didn’t belong, what’s the problem? She’s not dead too, is she?”
“No,” I said quickly, trying to push that thought out of my head. “It’s stupid actually. She got mad because I was paying more attention to a video game than to her and the kid.”
“Sounds legit,” he answered, nodding. “What kind of game?”
“An MMORPG,” I answered, fidgeting nervously on the stool. “It’s a Ma–”
“I know what it is. Which one?” he shot back.
I blinked. For whatever reason, I had never really thought of forty-year-old business types as gamers. Guess it just goes to show you not to judge a book by its wrinkled blazer.
“It’s a newer one,” I started. “You might not have heard of it. It’s called Kingdom of Heaven. It’s basically about angels and demons fighting for control over the afterlife, and you have to pick a side and play as one of a variety of characters.” I sighed. “It probably sounds stupid to you.”
“I’d hope not,” Hector said, reaching into his pocket to pull out a white lanyard with his photo plastered across it and three neon crosses under it; a symbol I recognized immediately. “Seeing as how I helped create it.”
“You work for Neon Crosses?” I asked, my heart skipping a beat at the awesomeness as I referred to the gaming company responsible for Kingdom of Heaven.
“For the last few years,” he shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.
“Wait. Wait. Wait,” I said, scooting my stool forward and trying to wrap my head around this. “So you actually, like, help design the games? You see the games before anyone else does?”
“I don’t just see them. I play them,” he answered, pushing the beer bottles away from himself. “Which is why I’m glad you’re a fan. It would have kind of sucked to have bought a drink for a guy who thought I was a hack.”
“A hack?!” I scoffed, moving my hands in an overly wild gesture to let him know just how far off base he was. “I think you’re a god, dude. That game, that game is art. Hey,” I said, leaning forward and lowering my voice. “I’m pretty good, you know. I think I even found the Tunnel of Enlightenment.”
“Really?” He smiled. “That’s pretty impressive, seeing as how most people aren’t even aware it’s there.”
A wave of pride bubbled up inside of me. Sure, I had just been thrown out of the only home I had and was forced to drain my savings to rent a shoe box of a room at a fleabag motel, but I’d found the Tunnel of Enlightenment, dammit.
“Well,” I said, grinning. “My guild and I aren’t most people.”
Hector leaned back, looking me up and down the same way Diana had just moments earlier. Only, where the gruff woman probably came away thinking I was about as appealing as a sponge soaked in garbage water, this guy seemed to approve of what he saw.
“We rent a facility a little ways outside of town,” Hector said, standing and fixing his coat. “It’s the reason I’m here actually. I came to check in on a new project that’s been in the works for the last few months. It’s top secret and related to Kingdom of Heaven.” He gave me a conspiratorial look. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you’d want to see it, is there?”
If I could have stopped the stupid ass wide grin from spreading across my face, I totally would have, but I was helpless. I had stumbled ass backwards right into the jackpot. This guy wanted to show me top secret, brand new KOH stuff. The mind freaking boggled at the possibilities. Was it a new expansion pack? Was it designs for new races, new settings? Oh God, was it footage of the long-rumored movie adaptation?
I felt like I was going to pass out. This was like Indiana Jones finding the Holy Grail stuffed behind the box of Christmas lights in the attic, which would have made for a really lackluster movie, but he’d have come out much better off.
“So?” Hector asked again, and I suddenly realized I hadn’t answered.
“S-Sure,” I said slowly, trying to keep my cool and not sound so overly excited. “I guess-I guess that would be okay.” So, because, apparently, I hadn’t seen enough Criminal Minds episodes in my lifetime, I decided it was a good idea to get in a car and go with the strange man I’d just met in a bar to a vaguely defined building in the middle of the night.
Mom would be so proud.
The strange thing was – after he got me into the car and we started off toward the building – Hector got quiet. I kept trying to ask him about secrets from the game and even alluded to the Tunnel of Enlightenment a time or two now. He kept silent though, to the point I began to think he hadn’t been completely honest when it came to how involved he was in the making of things.
By the time he slid his card to open the gate separating the road from the long and winding driveway leading to the Neon Cross building, I was officially freaked out.
“Maybe this isn’t a great idea, Hector,” I said as we pulled to the end of the drive, the basically abandoned looking building coming into view. “I mean, I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble or anything. I know how serious you guys take proprietary information and all of that.”
He skidded to a stop, glared at me with menacing eyes that quickly vanished into a grin. “I think it’ll be okay, bud. Besides, we came all this way. There’s no reason to send you back home without a show.”
He opened the door and slapped the top of the car. “Come on now. Moonlight’s burning.”
I stared at the windshield, weighing the pros and cons of all of this. If this guy was – in fact – a serial killer, then I had probably come too far to turn back now anyway. After all, I was in front of an empty building with no one in sight. If this dude wanted to kill me, I was basically dead already. I had already rolled the dice, so I might as well hope it didn’t come up snake eyes.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down and reminding myself that serial killers made up, like, two percent of the population tops. Nah, I was going to be fine. Probably.
As I stepped out, he nodded for me to follow before walking up to the building and sliding his identification card through the slot in the front door. It didn’t respond.
Okay. Not a good sign. He slid it again. Still, the lock flashed red, and the door refused to open.
He sighed loudly and slammed an elbow into it. The door opened quickly.
“It’s okay. I’ll have maintenance fix it in the morning.”
“O-okay,” I muttered and followed him into the building. My mind was racing. Hector hadn’t been able to get the door open, which meant maybe he hadn't had as much experience with this place as he'd let on. Maybe he didn't work here at all. Maybe he was going to string me up and slit me from smile to sternum. Of course, maybe I was just being a pansy about all of it. The beer was a little stronger than I'd thought and it had me a little loopier than I cared to admit. So I kept my head down and pressed on, attributing my shade of paranoia to me being a lightweight.
Once we were inside, my heart slowed to a less offensive speed. As Hector flipped on the lights, I saw what looked to be a real life, working tech company. Posters for Kingdom of Heaven covered the walls. Computers sat idle on desks and water coolers were still half full and-touching one as I passed by – I found the contents to still be cold.
No. This place was legit, which meant not only was I probably not going to die, but I was about to see some cool exclusive game updates—something that made not dying sound even better.
“I seriously can’t believe this,” I muttered, finally allowing myself to get unabashedly excited. “This is the coolest thing in the world.”
“Just you wait,” Hector said, taking his jacket off and hanging it on one of the hangers against the wall. “Come this way. This is where the new stuff is.”
Happily, I followed the guy down a long hallway and right through a steel door which needed another elbow after the card didn’t work again. Not only was Hector a lot stronger than he looked, but he was going to give this maintenance dude a hell of a lot of work to come to in the morning.
Filing that firmly into the “not my problem” column in my brain, I giddily followed Hector through. My mind raced. Was I going to see some cool new maps, maybe a design for a boss no one had seen yet? Or maybe I was going to see…a big ass metal machine.
“What the hell is this?” I asked, looking at the giant metal tube which ran up the center of the room. It was a round cylinder with a nearly countless amount of buttons running up and down the side. A light humming emanated from the machine and, what was more, the room we’d walked into seemed warmer than the rest of the building, leading me to believe this thing was putting off heat. Why was it running when nothing else was?
“It’s necessary,” Hector said walking toward it. He took a deep breath and held it in as he neared the cylinder and began pressing buttons on the side in a quick systematic way.
“Necessary for what?” I asked, too timid to actually go any closer. Digging around in my pocket, I felt my phone. This obviously wasn’t a video game and seeing that made my apprehension come back in full force. If this guy did anything else weird, it would result in me quickly dialing 911. It would also very likely be followed shortly by my death, given the sheer distance we’d driven off the main road. But hey, at least someone would know where to start looking for my body.
The Skull Throne: A LitRPG novel (Kingdom of Heaven Book 1) Page 2