by Alex Mulder
“You have to believe me,” said Emily. “Please…”
That’s… Tess.
“I’m sorry, Emily.” A man in his late sixties or early seventies was leaning over to talk with her, flanked by a woman in a doctor’s jacket. “I wish there was more that we could do.”
“I’ve told you everything,” whispered Emily. “You’re supposed to do something. I’m telling the truth.”
There was a haunted look in her eyes. Luke had seen it before, but this time, her face was different. She looked like she was barely holding it together, like she’d lost something vital to her essential wellbeing.
“Jason is denying it,” said the man. “It’s your word against his.”
“I still have the scars!” Emily shouted.
The woman reached out and set a hand on her shoulder.
“Emily, I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s not the kind of evidence that will hold up in court. You should have come out about this earlier.”
“He… threatened me.” Emily’s words were almost inaudible.
The room was silent. It was hard for Luke to tell, from his ethereal perspective, whether the two faculty members were listening to her, or drowning in pity.
“Emily…” The man shook his head. “I didn’t want to have to go down this road. We’ve talked to other people about the incident. Nobody saw the two of you in the room together. Nobody heard anything, and down to a person they told us that you headed upstairs willingly.”
“The longer you wait after a rape happens, the harder it becomes to prosecute.” The woman sounded slightly more sympathetic, but it was clear that she didn’t believe Emily either.
“I’ll go to the police…” said Emily. “I… I should have gone to them in the first place.”
“Jason is the son of the police chief,” said the man. “His academic record might not be the best, but he’s on the college football team, and there have never been any disciplinary concerns related to him before.”
This is why. I never asked her about it… never took the time to hear what she had to say.
“This can’t be happening…” whispered Emily.
“There are some things that we can to do for you,” said the man. “The university has a number of mental health services. As long as you’re seeing someone about your… issues, you can take withdraw from any classes you’re struggling with this semester without repercussions.”
Emily just stared at him. After a moment, the man and the woman nodded to her and then left the room.
I have to get her out of here. She’s experiencing all of this as though it was real.
“Emily!” Luke shouted. “Emily, listen to me. This is a trick, an illusion.”
Luke could hear his own voice, but Emily didn’t seem to be able to. She took a deep breath and clasped her hands together, leaning her head down.
The door suddenly slammed open. A tall student in a varsity jacket walked through it, carefully closing and locking it behind me.
“No…” Emily slid over to the other edge of the bed, looking panicked. “No!”
“It’s pretty clear from what the dean said to me what happened, Em,” said the boy. “I told you nobody would believe you.”
“You’ve already got what you wanted!” shouted Emily. “Just… leave me alone.”
“I don’t have to do anything.” Jason stepped in closer, rubbing his fingers across his chin. “Come on, we can still be friends.”
Emily took a deep breath and then stood up from the bed. She started walking toward the door, but as she passed by Jason, he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her into the wall.
“Let me go!” Emily struggled against him. Jason just smiled.
“You need to relax, Em,” he whispered. “Why don’t you let me-”
Emily slammed her knee up, aiming it at his groin. Jason winced, but her aim had been off.
“You little bitch!” He slapped her hard across the face and then walked over to a TV sitting on a stand next to the desk. He turned it on and maxed out the volume with the remote.
“Help, ple-” Emily’s words were cut off as Jason fell on top of her, covering her mouth with one hand and using his body weight to trap her against the ground.
No! I can’t let this happen!
“Don’t struggle, Emily,” whispered Jason. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”
Luke was screaming at the top of his lungs, straining against the boundaries of the ethereal perspective he was trapped in. He lowered himself down further and moved up next to the TV, trying to swing his formless arm and knock it down. It budged slightly, but Jason and Emily didn’t notice.
“Emily!” Luke zoomed in next to her ear. “Emily, you have to listen to me. This isn’t real!”
Jason was ripping her blouse off, and tears were streaming down her face. Luke pulled his arms around Jason’s neck and tried to put him in a headlock. Surprisingly, Jason coughed slightly.
“I didn’t bring a condom with me,” he whispered to Emily. “Just nod if that’s okay.”
She screamed into his hand as the jock forced her head up and down.
“No!” Luke tried again, swinging a fist at Jason’s head. It connected, not with the force of a real punch, but as though he’d buffeted the jock with a pillow.
“What the… hell?” Jason trailed off as he turned his head, staring at the space Luke occupied with wide eyes.
“Leave her the fuck alone,” said Luke. Jason’s shocked expression lasted for only a second before he turned back to Emily, as though it had never happened. However, Emily was still staring at him.
“Emily, you have to run!” shouted Luke. “You don’t have to give in to this monster. Fight, just get to the hallway. You’ll be okay!”
Luke swung at Jason again, and again, his gentle blows making the jock flinch and blink as they landed. Emily’s eyes glimmered with determination. She made her move, slamming herself forward into a vicious head butt and connecting with Jason’s nose.
“Ow, fuck!” The jock pulled his arm back to dab at his face, and Emily took advantage of the opportunity. She reached up, fumbling at one of the drawers in the nearby desk until it came loose and fell to the ground next to her.
“I’m going to make this painful,” whispered Jason. “This time I don’t have to care about leaving a mark.”
Emily grabbed something off the ground, aided by Luke’s continuous barrage of ethereal attacks. With practiced hands, she slipped open the blade of the pocket knife. Jason reached for it, but she was too fast.
She brought it down into his back, the arm movement of the strike mimicking a hug. Jason gasped, and Emily pulled the blade free and stabbed him again, and again.
“You bastard!” she screamed. “You fucking bastard! You ruined my life!”
Jason was dead, and Emily was still stabbing, face soaked by tears. Luke knelt down closer to her and used his formless fingers to wipe some of them away.
“Emily, we have to go,” he whispered. “This isn’t your life. Not anymore.”
She looked confused, but nodded slowly. Luke tried to help her to her feet, not really having enough presence to make much of a difference. Emily followed him as he walked out into the hallway, and bright white light transported them back.
CHAPTER 27
Déjà vu…
Luke was lying on the cold stone floor of the cavern, with cloudy thoughts and a bad headache. He slowly sat up, wincing as he set a hand on his head. Tess was lying next to him in a similar state.
“This is actually pretty genius,” he said. “Even if we manage to make it through all of these rooms, we’ll be too confused at the end to-”
Tess scrambled across the ground over to him, wrapping Luke in an almost painfully tight hug.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Luke, thank you…”
He scratched his head.
“I… didn’t really do much,” he said. “You got yourself out of there, Tess.”
&n
bsp; She didn’t say anything. Both of them gingerly stood to their feet and began examining the room. It was an exact copy of the last one, a rectangular stone shell with a bronze door on either side.
“The next room will be where we find Kaoru,” said Luke. “What do you think her trap is going to be?”
“Academic issues?” Tess waved a hand. “It doesn’t make a difference really.”
“I guess. Knowing her, she’ll probably have saved herself by the time we get to her.”
Tess rolled her eyes. Luke took a step toward the door and felt her grab his hand again.
“Luke…” she said softly. “You really did save me. I want you to know that.”
He leaned in and kissed her.
I can do this. I can save us, I just need to stay focused.
Luke kept his hand against her cheek for a moment longer and then walked over to the unopened room in the door.
“Get ready,” he said. “I’m not sure how much we’ll be able to do, but given that it’s Kaoru… well, I’m not sure if that’s a problem.”
Tess nodded to him, and he pulled the door open. Light streamed into the room and the two of them walked in.
Where are we?
The scene in front of him was regular, but somehow strange. A young girl and an older woman, a woman who looked a great deal like Kaoru, were in a large room together. A long, rectangular table was perfectly positioned at the center, with a massive birthday cake sitting on it. Eight unlit candles poked out of the frosting.
“Kaoru-chan.” The older woman smiled softly. She was sitting in a comfortable looking chair in the corner of the room, and slowly stood up and walked over to the girl.
“Mom…” The girl was frowning. Her eyes were locked down at the table in front of her.
“They’ll be here, Kaoru-chan,” said the woman. “All of your classmates were invited. Just give it time.”
Kaoru-chan?
The girl didn’t look up. She was dressed in a very neat, proper looking blouse and dress combo, expensive looking and perfectly ironed. It was an outfit that looked as though it had been originally intended for a woman 30 years older.
Unlike in his vision and Tess’s, not much happened right away. Kaoru continued staring at the table. The woman, who Luke assumed was her mother, was drinking a glass of wine in her chair and said very little.
Tess made a few half-hearted attempts at getting the little girl’s attention before Luke stopped her. He was becoming increasingly sure that making it out was less about any help they offered, and more about a person’s own inner strength.
“They aren’t coming.” Kaoru’s voice, as a little girl, was tiny and high pitched. She spoke softly and clearly.
The woman stood up and walked over to the table. She had a bottle in one hand and her wine glass in the other, and poured it full as she stood next to Kaoru.
“I made it very clear to their parents that I expected them here, and that you expected gifts,” said the woman. Kaoru’s frown deepened.
“I don’t need gifts…”
“Nonsense, Kaoru-chan!” The woman drained the wine glass in a single long sip and immediately poured another. “It’s a sign of respect, of obedience.”
The little girl blinked a few times in quick succession.
“…Not even Jun-kun came.”
The older woman stiffened, her face darkening.
“He was not invited, Kaoru-chan,” she said softly. “And you should be having nothing to with one such as him. Come, I will light your candles. Your friends will get here in time for you to blow them out, I promise you.”
Kaoru’s mother leaned over and picked up a box of matches. She lit each of the eight candles, and the glow of the flames flickered, reflecting off the polished surface of the table. The huge room looked even emptier than it had before, and Kaoru even smaller inside of it.
Kaoru’s mother downed another glass of wine and stumbled back to her chair. She ran her hand through her hair and closed her eyes. Kaoru stared at her cake, stared at the candles.
She, and Luke and Tess along with her, watched them melt for the next hour, as they all raced to burn down to nothingness, little pools of wax against the smooth frosting. She said nothing while it happened, but her the expression in her eyes showed all.
“This is so sad,” said Luke.
“Yeah…” Tess floated down next to where the little girl sat, filling the space with her ethereal form. “I’m so sorry, Kaoru.”
Kaoru couldn’t hear her. She continued staring at the cake as though it was the only thing that mattered, the only thing that existed.
A noise came from the other side of the room and the little girl sat up straight, startled. A man in a servant’s uniform was leading a small, smiling, little boy into the room. The boy was holding a present. Kaoru grinned as she saw him.
“Jun-kun!” she shouted. “You came! You really-”
“You!” The older woman stood up, her drunkenness showing as she stumbled forward. She made her way over to the boy, dismissing the servant with a wave of the hand.
“I… I thought, since it’s Kaoru-chan’s birthday…” The boy looked confused.
Kaoru’s mother snatched the present out of his hand, a long, rectangular box, and then slammed it against the little boy’s arm. He let out a cry of pain.
“Mother!” Kaoru hurried over and tried to pull the woman back as she continued assaulting the little boy. “Stop!”
“You are not welcome here!” yelled the woman. Her voice was almost incomprehensibly angry. The boy was curled up in a ball on the floor, covering his head the best he could as blows continued to scream down.
“Noooo!” Kaoru was crying and screaming, slamming her own hands into the back of the woman’s waist as she tried futilely to get her to stop.
Two servants appeared from the corridor and immediately rushed to pull Kaoru’s mother back. She continued ranting incoherently, but stopped resisting after a moment. Kaoru fell to her knees next to the little boy.
“I… Jun-kun, I’m sorry.” She was still crying. The little boy slowly looked up at her and shrugged.
“Happy birthday, Kaoru-chan.” He stood up after a couple more seconds and walked out of the room. Kaoru was still on her knees and sobbed into her hands.
“Luke, maybe we should…” Tess trailed off as bright white light began to fill the room.
Kaoru…
CHAPTER 28
Luke was back on the ground. This time, he pulled himself up quickly, anxious to keep moving and make it further into the cavern. Next to him, Kaoru and Tess slowly stirred and sat up.
“You alright, Kaoru?” asked Luke. “Tess and I… we had to go through similar traps.”
Kaoru rubbed her temples. She stared at the wall for a moment with a far off look in her eyes, before finally turning to him.
“You saw all of that?” she asked. Luke nodded, feeling a bit awkward.
“Yeah…” he said. “Not by choice, really.”
Kaoru took a deep breath and stood to her feet. She didn’t look overly affected by the experience. Luke wanted to let it drop, but a question burned on his lips that he felt like he couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“That boy,” Luke said. “Who was he? And why did your mom…?”
Kaoru sighed.
“It’s not any of your business, Luke,” she said.
“I don’t think I’ve asked you more than a handful of questions about your life outside the game since we met.” Luke scratched his head.
“And that’s a problem?”
A tense silence hung on the air. Tess walked over to where Kaoru and Luke stood, saving them.
“The memory it brought me to was just as bad, Kaoru,” said Tess. “I understand if you don’t want to talk about it.”
“No… it’s fine,” she said. “If you really must know, Jun…”
Kaoru trailed off, seemingly changing her mind in midsentence.
“He was okay after that,” she
finally said. “You don’t have to worry.”
“That actually happened?” asked Luke. “It wasn’t just something concocted by the cavern?”
Kaoru nodded. Tess looked at him strangely.
“Luke, my vision…” She frowned, as though having to force the words out. “It really happened the way you saw it. I mean, I didn’t escape in real life, but other than that, it was true.”
Luke blinked.
I was trapped in a mental hospital.
A sinister chill began to work its way through his body, starting in his chest and spreading out to his head and limbs.
“Luke? Are you okay?” Tess stepped over to him, grabbing his hand.
I can’t doubt myself. Not now.
He nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. “Let’s… keep moving forward.”
The last door was different from the first three. It was still made of bronze, but it was much larger than the others, a set of commanding double doors that hinted at the potential of what was behind them.
“I get the feeling that we should get our abilities ready before we head through,” said Kaoru.
“That’s not a bad idea.” Luke took a step back from the doors.
CONJURE SWORD 4
MIRROR IMAGE 3
HOLY REGENERATION 2
Tess also cast a few buffs on him. Luke considered activating Progenitor’s Soul as well, but decided to save it as a trump card in case he could gain an advantage through surprise.
“Ready?”
Tess and Kaoru nodded to him. He stepped forward and pulled open the door.
The room on the other side was big, at least the size of a football field, with a high chiseled rock ceiling. Steps had been carved out of stone, leading up to a large platform against the back wall that was filled with color. Gemstones were encrusted into torch holders. A waist high barrier made of gold and studded with rubies ran along either side of the staircase.
And at the center of the platform stood a woman that Luke recognized all too well. The Universal Truth stared forward at the wall, still dressed in her simple, low level clothing. Her eyes glowed an intense blue, giving her face a strangely vacant and inhuman aura. She managed to look elegant and generic at the same time, and reminded Luke of someone that hurt to think about.