Which was pretty much what he always did when he didn’t want to deal with the world. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, for them he didn’t want to deal with the world a lot which is why they had such a dedicated game master. It was a double edged sword.
“No, Mike actually saved my ass,” Gwen said.
“Mike saved your ass?” Lisa asked, looking him up and down with something that was pretty close to disbelief.
Maybe a touch of admiration, too. He’d always gotten that vibe from Lisa. She was always making comments about how terrible Christine was for him, though to be honest Christine had been such a garbage fire of a human being that he’d always written that off as Lisa being a friend and not trying to move in.
His working out with Lisa had been a sore spot with Christine too. Though her inability to trust him with any woman, even a woman he’d known most of his life, had been a sore spot with him.
Lisa was giving him an interested look tonight though. The kind of look that was dangerous from his best friend’s little sister, and doubly dangerous when he was there with Gwen who was…
Well she was whatever the hell they were. A girl he’d saved from a werewolf then had a roll with in the back of a bakery before killing more werewolves. Yeah, it’d been a weird night.
“Is that really so hard to believe?” Mike asked, looking around the room.
Everyone but Doug held his gaze. There was a brief pause, then everyone burst into laughter. He looked down and grumbled a few things under his breath that weren’t very nice, but whatever. If they were going to be jerks then he was going to tell them what he thought of them.
“Sorry,” Ron said. “It’s just that fighting off a mugger doesn’t seem like your thing.”
“He didn’t say it was a mugger,” Sean said, arching his eyebrow and really looking like everyone’s favorite Vulcan for a moment.
Everyone else seemed to think Sean was talking about an attacker that was looking to get something other than money, but from the way Sean held his gaze Mike got the uncomfortable feeling that he knew more than he was letting on.
Then again Sean gave off that vibe a lot of the time. That Mr. Spock routine he pulled could be unsettling at best, and downright creepy most of the time.
“That’s because the thing wasn’t a mugger,” Mike said. “It was a werewolf.”
That got everyone to shut right up all over again. Only this time there was no laughter to accompany his pronouncement that the whole fucking world had gone insane.
“A werewolf,” Sean said.
“It’s a long story,” Mike said with a sigh.
“And we don’t have time for long stories with game night about to start,” Doug called out from the folding table. “Especially ridiculous stories that are clearly meant to elicit mercy from an uncaring game master.”
“But he’s telling the truth!” Gwen said. “A werewolf attacked me, and Mike stepped in and saved me. Twice, actually. He blew up my job to kill some of them.”
Ron rolled his eyes and slapped a beefy hand on Mike’s shoulder. Which nearly knocked his tacos out of his hand.
“Come on Mike,” he said. “That’s the ending to Dog Soldiers. You really expect us to believe that?”
“Next he’s going to tell us he killed one of them by firing fireworks at it,” Sean muttered.
Mike’s eyes darted to Gwen. The faintest ghost of a smile played across her face, but she kept her mouth shut at least. Meanwhile Mike was trying to figure out how to break even more craziness to his friends, and coming up with a big fat blank.
“Actually it was dice,” he said.
“Dice?” Lisa asked.
“Yeah, dice that I used to fireball the werewolf,” he said, trying to gloss over the impossibility fast enough that they might not focus on it and he could get on to toga goddess and all the dangerous shit threatening their lives tonight.
“Okay, so Mike here has seriously lost it,” Sean said, gently guiding him towards the table. “I think what you really need is to get over here to the table and sit down to have a less scary break from reality.”
“But I’m not having a break from reality!” Mike said. “I’m telling you there was a werewolf out there and it attacked Gwen!”
“Right. The nice girl was attacked by a guy in a costume that made him look like a werewolf. You just sit here and think all about it,” Sean said, guiding Mike down.
“He’s fucking serious, you guys,” Gwen said, sounding more than a little annoyed that no one believed them.
Though Mike wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Showing up and spouting off about werewolves coming to life wasn’t exactly the kind of thing a sane person did in this day and age. At least they weren’t being taken back to an interrogation room while this all went down. He figured that would’ve been their fate if they tried to go to the cops with a story like this.
“You poor thing,” Lisa said, her whole demeanor changing as she pulled Gwen over to a couch. “Someone in a costume attacked you? That must’ve been horrible for you. Are you hurt? Do we need to call the cops?”
Gwen stared at Mike as though she was expecting him to do something to fix this. The only problem was he had no idea how the hell he was going to get his friends to believe him.
He was starting to think that taking her to game night might not have been the best idea. Though it’s not like they had anywhere else to go. He really didn’t trust the campus cops to do anything to help them against what he suspected was out there tonight.
“I’m fine,” she finally said, though from the way her voice shook she was anything but. “But I’m serious when I say Mike was telling the truth. There’s crazy stuff happening out there, and we need to be ready to defend ourselves.”
“Of course we do,” Ron said, gesturing all around him at the prop replicas on his wall. “This is the best defended apartment on campus! Any werewolves who come here will have to go through me.”
He winked at Gwen. Mike knew that tone. It was a tone that said he was humoring someone. Usually it was a tone he used on Doug when the prick was getting a little out of hand, but Gwen didn’t know Ron well enough to know he was humoring her.
“Fine,” she said, pointing across the room. “Then give me that.”
She’d pointed to a double barrel shotgun hanging on the wall in between a massive claymore and a fancier looking sword that had a heron etched into the side of it.
Gwen’s eyes glittered as she looked at the shotgun though. Clearly if she was going to defend herself with what was on offer in the apartment then she was only interested in defending herself with more modern weaponry. Honestly Mike wouldn’t have minded having a shotgun on hand when he was in that alley, though the dice had done well enough by him.
“That?” Ron asked. “That’s my boomstick replica!”
“Looks to me like a twelve-gauge double-barreled Remington,” Gwen said.
“Well yeah,” Ron said. “That’s sort of the point. Had to get the thing off of some gun nut forum though. No S-Mart around here to shop at. And believe me that was one of the more expensive pieces in my prop collection.”
“Looks pretty real to me,” Gwen said, walking over to the thing and pulling it off the wall. “You got ammo for this baby?”
“Well yeah,” Ron said. “In the kitchen under the sink. All my props are as real as I can get, but why do you…”
“You guys can not believe us all you want,” Gwen said. “We can even sit down and play your game if you want, but I’m going to have this baby right next to me the entire time.”
Everyone stared at her as though she’d gone crazy. Mike was of the opinion that maybe she had gone just a little crazy.
“Um, right,” Ron said. “I guess that’s okay. If you keep it unloaded at the game table.”
“Of course,” she said with a sweet smile that seemed slightly disconnected from the world around them. “I know the ammo is only a few steps away. That’s good enough.”
“Gwen,” Mi
ke said. “They really need to…”
“Nah, it’s fine,” Gwen said. “Let’s play this game!”
Right. Mike figured Gwen had gone bye-bye for a little while. Honestly he almost wished he could have a mental break. Especially since it was getting pretty clear that no one around the table was in a mood to believe him.
Something slapping down against a table drew everyone’s attention. Doug’s cold gaze of nerdy fury took in everyone in turn.
“What?” Ron asked, annoyance dripping from his voice.
“I will not allow someone new into this game,” he said. “It’s bad enough that you brought another girl to this apartment tonight and violated the sacred invite-only privilege of game night, but inviting her into the game itself when she doesn’t have the game master’s approval and the express written consent of everyone playing the game is unacceptable.”
“Stop being such an asshole,” Sean said.
Everyone turned to face him. He was a man of few words, and so hearing him swearing at Doug was nothing short of astonishing. The silence hung in the room for an awkward moment while Sean and Doug stared daggers at each other. Then, finally, Doug looked away.
Phrases about the anger of a quiet man came to mind. Mike knew Doug had read that book too, and apparently he’d decided it’d be wise to heed the advice of the great and powerful Rothfuss.
“Fine, but it’s up to you to explain to her how to play the damn game. I’m not going to…”
Whatever else he said was lost as Gwen glared at him over her shotgun. Apparently the combination of a hot girl and a weapon was enough to terrify him into shutting up, but it didn’t stop him from muttering a few things under his breath as he looked away.
Mike looked around the room at his friends. Maybe it was the familiarity of game night lulling him into a false sense of security, but after the night he’d had his brain was more than happy to be lulled. To pretend that everything was normal for a little while, even if he knew the night was anything but.
Besides, he was still half expecting to wake up and discover this was some crazy dream that was a result of drinking too much and falling asleep creeping on Gwen on Facebook while An American Werewolf in London played in the background.
That would almost be less crazy than the idea of sitting down to play a game where they fought imaginary monsters while, out there on campus, those imaginary monsters were coming to life and fucking shit up.
He’d have to get them to listen. Gwen wasn’t going to be much help, but he would get them to see the danger they were all in here, damn it.
18
New Player
"So how do I do this?" Gwen asked.
Mike opened his mouth then shut it. He knew playing this game wasn’t the best idea, all things considered, but then he saw the look on Gwen’s face and couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
The fact that he could see the stock of a “prop” gun that was very much the real thing sticking up from under the table only added to his reluctance to open his big mouth. Sure that thing might not be loaded, but a hot girl with a gun was pretty intimidating.
Also? She looked like she was forgetting some of the terror of the night. So even though the terror was still very much in the forefront of his mind and he worried that terror was still out there hunting them, he couldn’t help but stop and enjoy this moment.
Just a little.
"Well that's simple," Ron said. "We roll you up a character. Figure out what you want to be in the game world. From there you’ll have to pick a couple of abilities. If you're a spellcaster you'll have to decide on your spells. And then we'll… You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
"None at all," she said.
The look she'd been giving him had been one heck of a tipoff. At least it wasn't the typical look a pretty girl no doubt gave a guy when he started monologuing about the intricacies of the game.
No, Mike figured your typical girl who looked like Gwen would be running for the hills like she had some goblins and bugbears on her heels. Not that a girl as pretty as Gwen would know what a bugbear was, though she might be aware of goblins thanks to the still pervasive pop-culture influence of David Bowie's considerable bulge in a certain Muppet movie that was a surprising sexual awakening for a lot of people.
"Okay. Maybe we should slow it down a little bit," Ron said.
“Or maybe we should turn on the TV?” Mike chimed in. “See if there’s anything on the news about what’s going on?”
“I’m telling you there’s nothing out there,” Lisa said. “The usual stuff is quiet. Nothing on the campus paper. The only updates I’m seeing on social media are people talking about getting drunk. It’s a normal night.”
“Normal, right,” Mike muttered, not believing it for a moment. He glanced to the door, and to the windows beside the door, but he didn’t see dark shapes out there.
He knew they were out there though. That they were on borrowed time, and they weren’t doing much with it.
Finally, after about a half hour of Ron explaining the intricacies of the game to Gwen, it seemed like they were finally ready to go. They moved over to the folding table and took their seats, ready to see what fate was going to deal them.
Mike pulled out his phone to check the news, but it was just as Lisa said. Not a peep. Everything was quiet. A little too quiet.
A slap brought him away from his phone. He fumbled the thing and nearly dropped it, and when he looked up Doug glared at him.
“No phones at the table,” he snapped.
Doug looked at each of them in turn. His eyes gleamed with the same expectant excitement that came over him whenever they were getting ready to play a game. They shuffled through their papers in anticipation.
“When last we left your party you were delving deep into an ancient ruin carved into the side of a local mountain,” Doug said, drawing it out and waving his fingers in something that was supposed to look intimidating but came off more like spirit fingers. “Unfortunately you round a corner in the caves and discover the way has been blocked by a rock slide that keeps you from progressing further in the dungeon.”
"What do you mean there's a rock slide?” Ron asked, his voice rising. “We’ve spent the last four weeks exploring this dungeon!”
"I mean exactly what I said," Doug said. "You turn down the corridor and discover there’s a large rockslide in front of you. What action do you take?"
"Do we have anything that could be used to get around something like that?" Ron asked.
"Nothing," Lisa said. "I didn't realize we were going to be going on a mining expedition when we started this leg of the dungeon."
“We could go down to the village,” Mike said. “I could show you the giant hole where Gwen’s work used to be. You’d believe me then!”
Gwen smiled a sad smile and shook her head. She also stroked the barrels of her newly acquired shotgun lovingly which reminded Mike of some of the things she’d done with him earlier.
Everyone at the table turned and glared at him.
“Okay, the joke was sort of funny the first time, but not anymore,” Lisa said. “Cut the crap.”
“But…”
“I believe you were about to ask about the game?” Doug asked.
Mike sighed. Glanced at the door and then back to his friends. Then spoke in a monotone. It’s not like he was going out there alone. He had a feeling it was dangerous to go alone tonight.
“What about the other corridor?" he asked.
"That corridor is blocked by rocks too," Doug said, a self-satisfied smile on his face.
"Come on!" Ron said. "How could that one be blocked too? Did the same fucking rockslide happen in the entire dungeon at the same fucking time?"
“Maybe. Maybe every corridor you explore that doesn't lead to the exit is going to be blocked by rubble that’s magically appeared since the last time we played," Doug said. "I'm afraid you have no choice but to head back topside."
Ron slapped a hand down
on the table. "What the hell Doug?" he asked.
"Seriously," Sean said. "Is this your idea of a joke or something?"
"I don't know why you guys are acting all pissy," Doug said. "You're the ones who decided to screw with the game."
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked. "You’re clearly meta-gaming here. I don't appreciate it when game masters meta-game!"
Doug slammed his hand down on the table. He looked at each of them in turn, and he seemed about as serious as he ever got at one of these sessions.
"Don't talk to me about meta-gaming," he said. "You assholes are lucky I didn't kill your entire party and have you start over to meet your new party member."
"Is that what this is about?" Mike asked. "Adding Gwen to the party?"
"Of course it is," Doug said. "If you want to add someone new to your adventuring party then you need to make sure you have a good excuse to meet up with them, right? I wouldn't want your new friend to sit bored all night long waiting for you guys to get around to finishing the dungeon so you could meet her."
Mike had to admit that Doug did have a point there. If this was a normal night of gaming then it would suck for Gwen if they spent most of the night delving a dungeon while she wasn’t allowed to do anything. At the same time Doug was being a major asshole with the way he was handling things, and it was clear no one at the table cared for it.
But this wasn’t a normal night. He needed to convince them to do something. He wasn’t sure what that something was, but the sure sense that they were all in danger was getting more and more intense with every passing moment.
Doug’s self-satisfied smile said he was enjoying the fuck out of this. He probably thought it was deserved after they’d “messed up” game night.
"So this is how it's going to be?" Lisa asked.
"Until you meet your new party member? Yes," Doug said. "That's exactly how it's going to be, and you'd better get used to it."
"Fine," Gwen said. "Where is my character?"
Dice Mage: A GameLit Adventure Page 13