Immersion World

by Max Jager

  Elliott gave him a questioning look, then stepped outside. Fate was sitting on a tree stump, and Jackson was sitting on the ground, resting and waiting for everyone else a short distance away from the tent. Elliott thought it was odd, seeing Jackson with the group for once. He approached Fate. "Hey Fate." He greeted.

  "Good morning." Fate greeted.

  "I asked what happened to Evelynn last night, and Carley pointed me out here." Elliott said.

  "Oh… So that's what that was." Fate replied. "I can only assume Carley meant that." She said as she pointed to a spot in the dirt that looked like it had been recently dug up. There was two sticks in the shape of a cross sticking up from the dirt, making it look almost like a grave.

  "Did he…?" Elliott asked unsurely.

  "I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did. Did you see her this morning?" Fate asked.

  "Yeah, he looked really sick, and looked like he hadn't slept all night." Elliott replied.

  "Carley has a very pure mind. If Carley had to kill someone, how do you think she'd take it?"

  "True, I doubt he would take it very well." Elliott paused for a moment to think about it. "Why do you keep calling him her? Just curious, you and Brooke were there when he corrected us but neither of you changed how you address him."

  "Well, I can't speak for Brooke but Carley also said that she didn't correct us before because it made her happy. That's why I never corrected myself, and I'd guess Brooke did it for the same reason." Fate shrugged.

  "Oh, I hadn't thought of that." Elliott replied.

  "Judging by how she looks and acts, and that comment, I am assuming back in the real world she was-" She stopped herself. "Actually that's a bit personal, I probably shouldn't bring it up. I'll let Carley tell you if she's comfortable."

  Elliott nodded. "Makes sense. And thanks, I'm gonna go talk to Carley about what happened with Evelynn."

  "I'm not sure if that's a good idea. She's really shaken up about it." Fate replied.

  Elliott shook his head. "I disagree. I think it'll be worse on Carley if he, rather, she doesn't have someone to comfort her. If she really did have to do it, I'd like to know what happened, and I'd like to be there to try and calm her down." He explained, then walked back into the tent and sat beside Carley.

  Carley glanced at him, but said nothing. He kept his head down, and remained seated beside Damion.

  "I saw the grave." Elliott started. "You okay?"

  Carley shook his head. "It's my fault. I wasn't fast enough."

  Elliott shook his head and grabbed Carley's shoulders to get his attention and make Carley look up at him. "Carley! Don't say that!"

  Carley's eyes went wide and he suddenly looked very scared. He shrunk back and moved his arms up, as if trying to protect himself from an incoming attack.

  Elliott saw Carley's reaction and let go. "Sorry. I forgot you don't like being touched."

  Carley was visibly shaking even more now, he looked terrified, exhausted, and very sick.

  "What happened? With Evelynn?" Elliott asked.

  "S-She was dead when I found her. She was the killer's next target, and I was just a little late. I was trying to figure it out, I was trying to pay attention to everyone. I wasn't smart enough to figure it out in time, and I didn't see him grab her, I screwed up somewhere. Her wounds were fresh, it had just happened when I found her." Carley weakly murmured. "I… I honestly had a little bit of a breakdown, I'm not… I'm not used to all this. Jackson found me. He brought me and the body back, and helped me bury her."

  "So the killer is still active then. I wonder if we'll be safe from them in the village." Elliott sighed.

  "Um…" Carley started. "We don't need to worry about the killer anymore." He quietly said.

  Elliott looked confused. "What do you mean? Everyone is still in the group, so the killer is still here."

  Carley shook his head. "No. Well, yeah, the killer is still with us. But we do not need to worry about him anymore. Well, I mean, you guys might need to worry about it tomorrow night. But not tonight."

  "Carley, that doesn't make any sense." Elliott replied.

  "Erm, yes, I know." Carley was tripping over his own words a little. "But please just trust me. If you need to worry about it tomorrow night, you'll know. For now, don't worry."

  "Carley, what's going on?" Elliott pressed for answers.

  "Please, please just trust me." Carley insisted. "And don't tell anyone else about it."

  Elliott hesitated, thinking about it for a minute. He took a deep breath. "Alright, I'm going to trust you. But Carley, promise me you're not going to do anything crazy."

  When he was asked to make the promise he froze briefly, he looked like he was getting more and more upset. He was growing tense and starting to shake more. His eyes were starting to water.

  "Carley what is wrong?" Elliott questioned.

  "Just trust me… Please, just trust me. No more questions, no stipulations. Just let me do what I need to do…" Carley pleaded.

  Elliott was very concerned, Carley was clearly so stressed out about this that it was making him sick. He wanted to try and calm Carley down, but everything he said seemed to make things worse. Even when he tried to offer help or tried to let Carley know his friends cared about him, why would something like that stress him out so much? Elliott was snapped out of his thoughts when Carley gasped.

  Carley's entire body tensed and the look on his face was one of pure terror. He had felt someone grab him from behind, and he froze. For a moment he seemed like he was about to have a panic attack. It took a second for his mind to register what happened, and realize that the person who had grabbed him was small and fuzzy.

  "You need hug." Inami spoke up.

  Carley took a deep breath, calming down a little. He stopped shaking, then gently pat Inami on the head. He seemed a little calmer now, but not much. "T-Thank you Inami." He quietly replied, trying to act calm so he wouldn't bother the little girl any further.

  "Carley." Elliott started. "I am going to trust you, I'm going to let it go. But please, remember that we are your friends and we are here for you. No matter what you think, you don't need to do this alone. Please don't forget that." He explained.

  Carley shook his head when Elliott said he didn't need to do it alone, and mentioning that everyone was his friend and willing to help seemed to only upset him even more. Elliott stood up and walked away to give Carley the space he seemed to need.

  Everyone started waking up about an hour later, and within two hours everyone was awake. Charles stood by the entrance of the tent and addressed everyone. "The Village is just a little over an hour from here, we will be there shortly. Let's get moving." He instructed.

  There were no objections, so everyone stepped outside, where they packed up the tent and began walking again.

  As usual, George, Charles, Matthew, Sarah, and Fate all walked together in the front of the group. Brooke, Chloe, and Elliott walked together a short distance behind them and Chloe was carrying Sophia today. Snipes and Inami traveled with Brooke and her group, and Jackson walked alone in the back, as he usually did.

  Carley was avoiding Brooke, Elliott, Snipes, and Sophia today. He didn't walk with them, instead he was making a point to walk with Damion, and was sticking close to him.

  "Hey Carley." Damion greeted. "You don't normally spend so much time around me, and you're not looking too well today. What's up?"

  "Um…" Carley started. "Well, the other day you asked if I had ever lost someone I loved. I-I, um, I got a message this morning… And, erm, the girlfriend I mentioned being in the game was found dead this morning." As he spoke he was visibly looking more and more upset and sick. "You offered the other day to help me cope, I-I, would like to take you up on that offer."

  Damion stepped a little closer to Carley and gently hugged him with one arm. Carley tensed, but was trying very hard not to flinch or show any fear in response like he usually did when touched. "I would be happy to help you out Carley
. Not right now, but later tonight we can step away from the group and work things out. I can help you say goodbye to her, and give you a chance to talk with her."

  Carley took a deep breath, then nodded. "Yeah, I would appreciate that." He quietly replied. "When do we meet? And where?"

  Damion thought about it for a moment. "You seem eager to meet me alone tonight." He commented. "Let's not rush into things, we don't know what the village will be like. Once everyone gets settled in and goes to sleep, whenever that happens, I'll wait for you outside and we will figure it out then."

  "You make it sound bad, I just really need help." Carley stated.

  "With the killer around, and so few people remaining in the group, most people are afraid to step away from the group even for a second." Damion pointed out. "You agreed without any hesitation. Are you not afraid?"

  Carley shook his head. "Why would I be? Death just means an end to this neverending, crippling fear, and it's an escape from a body and a life I do not want. The day I die is the day I'll finally be free from all of these things that are dragging me down, it's probably my only chance at being happy, especially now that I'm stuck in this game. Leaving the group won't be the first time I've purposefully ran at death head-on. You guys have seen me do it several times." He quietly answered, growing more and more shaken and upset as he spoke.

  Damion was silent and just listened.

  Carley continued. "I'm not trying to die, of course. There are people still around who care about me, and would be hurt if I died. They are the shackles that keep me bound to this life, the reason I always try my hardest to survive, they are what drive me to beat death and come out on top every time. It would just be a happy coincidence, if one day when I charge death head on like always, instead of coming out on top I just trip along the way and that's the end of it."

  "Oh, I am sorry to hear that." Damion replied, he seemed to be unsure of how to respond to that.

  Carley swallowed hard and nodded to himself, as if confirming something within his own head.

  Brooke glanced back at Carley and Damion. She spotted Damion half hugging him and she noticed that Carley wasn't objecting to it like he usually did. "What's with Carley? She's getting weirdly close to Damion. I didn't realize they were friends."

  "I am not sure. Carley is acting strange today. She's been sticking oddly close to Damion since I woke up. I don't really know why." Elliott replied.

  "Did we do something wrong? Is she mad at us?" Sophia asked.

  "I don't know." Elliott sighed. "Something is really stressing her out, like, really badly. She said that last night she found Evelynn dead, and she claimed that's what it was. But I don't think that's it."

  Brooke nodded "Nobody said anything, but yeah I saw the grave outside and I assumed it was Evelynn. Can't say I'm all that upset about her, honestly. I didn't like her much." She sighed. "But you don't believe Carley?"

  Elliott shook his head. "No, no. I believe Carley. But I do not believe that this is what is upsetting her so much. This isn't the first time she has seen a death, and she did take it kinda hard before, but not this bad." He pointed out. "I think there's something else bothering her."

  "We'll just have to keep an eye on her." Sophia spoke up. "I'm worried too."

  Snipes nodded in agreement.

  After a little walking they finally stepped out of the forest, and a short distance from the trees there was a small village. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and a forest on the fourth side, making it mostly hidden and hard to reach. Most of the buildings were made of stone that looked masterfully sculpted into the shape of big houses, but a few were made of a mix of stone and wood. Several of the buildings were only partially built.

  The village was filled with farmland where various crops were being grown. They could see a lot of people going in and out of the buildings, everyone seemed to be busy with something. Many people were working out in the farmlands, and other groups of people were off in some sort of combat training."

  As everyone walked into the village they all looked around. "Welcome to Belle village." Charles said as he gestured to the houses ahead of them. "For now, you guys are going to rest in this inn. This evening the Alphas are going to gather all of the newcomers for a meeting, to discuss how life in the village works and such." He explained as he lead the way to a huge, square-shaped stone building.

  "An inn?" Fate asked. "Looks like a big, blocky stone building." She commented.

  "Yeah, they aren't trying to make the houses pretty yet. They are just making them functional until the village is working and big enough for everyone." Sarah said. She opened the door and lead the way into the inn. She briefly spoke with the innkeeper and got a room for everyone in the group. The rooms were apparently free.

  Once she was handed all the room keys, Sarah lead the way down the halls towards where their rooms were. "You are safe from whoever this killer is here. The town is full of guards who will come running if anyone screams. I suggest you all take the day to rest and relax, you all need it. I know nobody slept well on that trip."

  Jackson walked over to Sarah. "I need to speak with you privately as soon as you can." He explained.

  "Um." Sarah hesitated a little, notably feeling a little awkward about the request. "Sure, I can step outside now if that's alright. Charles can handle things here."

  "Thanks." Jackson replied as he left the inn. Sarah followed along behind him after handing all the room keys to Charles.

  "Alright everyone." Charles said as he opened one of the doors beside the group and lead everyone inside. It was a little cramped, the room wasn't very big. "Each of you will have your own room, like this one." He said and gestured to the room. It was a small room made almost entirely out of stone, the only thing that wasn't stone was the window and the bed. Since the walls were stone, the window clearly could not be opened but it at least was letting in some sunlight.

  Once everyone took a moment to look around he handed the key to this room to George. "This will be your room." He said, then he began handing out the keys to everyone else. "Each key has a number on it, they are all in this hallway so just walk further down the hall until you find your room. It was nice traveling with you guys, if you need me I'll be around the village. I am one of the guards here."

  Once everyone had a key, Charles left and everyone went off to find their own rooms. Elliott and Brooke helped Sophia get settled in her own room.

  Afterwords, Brooke and Elliott went together to find their rooms, but quickly noted that their rooms were almost on opposite ends of the hallway. Neither of them were comfortable with separating and being so far apart.

  "I'm going to just go grab the pillow and blankets from my bed and sleep on the floor here." Elliott suggested.

  Brook shook her head. "I can take the floor." She insisted.

  "No, you get the bed tonight." Elliott stated. "If you really want, we can take turns. If we stay here."

  "If we stay?" Brooke asked. "We came all the way out here, why wouldn't we stay?"

  "We don't know much about this village, I don't think we should get too comfortable until we know more about what is here, and who is running this place. If the wrong people are in control it could be worse here then it is outside the village." Elliott pointed out.

  Brooke nodded a little. "True, true." She sighed and flopped onto the bed. "It is nice to have a bed though. How many years has it been?" She laughed lightly. "I forgot how comfortable they were."

  Elliott laughed a little. "Yeah. Let me go grab my stuff." He said as he got up and stepped out to go back to his room. Brooke got up and quickly followed along behind him. They found Inami and Snipes out in the hallway.

  "What are you two up to?" Brooke asked.

  "Inami can't read, and she doesn't know numbers either. She can't find her room." Snipes pointed out. "I think she's also afraid of being alone."

  Inami nodded a little and stepped closer to Snipes.

  Hearing the conversation, Fate o
pened the door and stepped out of her room. "Inami can stay with me if she needs someone to share a room with." She offered.

  Snipes looked a little disappointed, but Elliott and Brooke both nodded. "Yeah, we can grab Inami's blankets and pillows and such and set them up as a small bed on the floor. I was about to do the same for myself." Elliott suggested.

  "Sounds like a plan to me." Fate replied. "Inami, grab the things from your room. Snipes, help her out."

  "Thanks Fate." Brooke said, before her and Elliott continued down the hall to Elliott's room. They were stopped again, this time by Carley in the hallway. Carley was sitting on the hallway floor, leaning up against one of the doors. He was curled up and not taking up much space, but as soon as someone opened that door he was going to fall over. He appeared to be sleeping.