Solstice 2

by Harrison Shaw

  Weirdly, I felt connected to her just as she’d described. As though I knew her in some sense. Not like I was sitting down with a stranger... but like I was sitting down with my girlfriend. That was just weird.

  But I also liked it.

  “So what exactly do you want from me?” I asked, sipping my hot chocolate.

  JR leaned forward and wiped my upper lip. “Sorry. You had some whipped cream there.”

  “Oops.”

  Her index finger lingered a little longer than it needed to.

  “What I want from you? I don’t want anything, exactly. All I want is to team up with you.”

  “Which means you want something.”

  She laughed. “Okay, I guess I do. But I also think you’re cute.”

  “So that’s why you want to team up with me.” I sat back, watching as she bit into her donut. “You just think I’m cute.”

  “Well, that and your birthright.”

  Birthright. Why did people keep talking about that? Like I had some special claim or power or something.

  “What do you mean, my birthright?”

  “I mean...” She sighed, shaking her head with a slight smile. “You still don’t know? You’ve heard how everyone raves about you in Solstice.”

  “Yes, but that’s virtual. I didn’t think I had any kind of power in the real world.”

  “You do.” Her face turned serious. “I don’t think you realize just how powerful you actually are. That may be a problem.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  She leaned close, looking at me intently. “These strange things that happen around you? The bookstore? The way you seem to suddenly possess some power that makes women drawn to you?”

  “I thought that was you, with the dogtags.”

  She shook her head. “They were just placebos.”

  I stared, feeling really confused now. Maybe this chick was just high. “What...?”

  “It’s you, Henry. It’s been you all along. The dogtags were just there to mess with you. You’re the one that made these things happen.” She lowered her voice, even though no one was really paying attention and I doubted they’d care. “You have special abilities. Things you don’t even know about. And I want to help you unlock them.”

  I still didn’t understand what she meant, but I decided to play along. It’s true, weird things have been happening. She’s the only one, so far, who seems to at least be willing to admit that. “Okay, so let’s say I accept your offer. What happens then? We work together?”

  She nodded. “If we do, then I can help you discover parts of yourself that were missing, that were silent. I will help you reclaim who you were meant to be but have forgotten.”

  Her voice took on an almost mystical, seductive tone that drew me in. It sounded as though she was speaking some ancient prophecy, something far off but predestined...

  I almost had to believe her.

  “There’s something different about you, JR,” I said. “What is it, exactly?”

  She smiled mysteriously. “That’s for me to know, and you to find out.”

  ****

  After we finished out coffee and donuts, we walked and talked for a bit longer. She was an interesting companion — both a good listener and a good talker, able to share and receive information in equal amounts. I found myself opening up to her, telling her about why I’d started working at the bookstore, about my past and things with my ex-girlfriend. It was nothing like it had been with other women I’d known. JR seemed to take a true interest.

  I guess she has to. After all, she wants to rewrite my brain and make history, or something. Maybe I was exaggerating. I still didn’t totally understand it, though.

  “This whole thing about the birthright. What is that?” I asked, sticking my hands into my pockets as we headed toward the fountain square.

  “Your birthright is your claim. What you inherit the moment you’re born. Of course, it isn’t that easy — you have to work for it.” JR took my arm, leaning in close as we walked together.

  “But what did I inherit? How do I claim it?”

  “That’s a good question.” She looked up at me curiously. “I don’t know the answer.”

  “I thought you knew all about this.” I was even more confused, now. “That you were some kind of guru, or guide, or...something.”

  “I don’t know about that,” she confessed. “I’m not really a guru. I do know some things, but I cannot say I understand your powers yet. That’s something we’ll have to discover together. Just know that you do have them, and they are remarkable indeed.”

  I tried to piece it all together. All I knew so far was that I had power, but I didn’t understand just what that power meant. I was somehow destined for something great, both in the game and out of it. Now I just needed to figure out what that meant.

  JR and I went back to the house. I showed her around, letting her explore a bit. Trish was gone, and hadn’t said when she’d be back. I assumed JR and I had the house to ourselves for a while.

  “Do you want something to drink?” I asked, nosing around in the fridge. I pulled out some lemonade — or started to, anyway. And then I felt her arms go around my waist.

  Chapter 6

  “Actually what I want is to finally get my hands on you.”

  I almost dropped the pitcher right there.

  Instead, I managed to set it on the counter just as JR slid against me, her breasts pressing into my back. She leaned in close at my neck, whispering, “I have to admit, I kind of have a crush on you.”

  My body thrummed to life, my heart beating faster. She was really damn hot, there was no question of that. And obviously, she thought the same of me, though I wasn’t sure why. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly compelling about me. I was just a scrawny nerdy guy... but then, with the changes that had been happening...

  I turned to face her, feeling a little more confident. “You’re sure about that?”

  “Positive.” She licked her lips gently and looked up at me. “Are you not sure about me?”

  “Oh, I’m sure about you all right,” I said, putting my hands to the small of her back, holding her against me. “I’m just not used to hot women like you coming on to me.”

  “Get used to it. It’s your destiny now. This is what you’ve wanted your whole life, isn’t it?”

  She ran her hands over my chest, pulling me close. Her lips pressed hard against mine. I kissed back, holding her in my arms, enjoying the way she felt. It struck me that I had just kissed Trish like this not long ago, and now I had another beautiful woman in my arms, and was making out with her.

  JR felt very soft and smelled good. Sweet. I started to feel myself relaxing. My worries about her motives, and about her as a person, started to disappear.

  As we continued our kiss, her hands moved over my arms and shoulders. She leaned into me, giving soft little moans of pleasure. Apparently I was having a real effect on her.

  But then she broke away, saying, “That’s all for now. We shouldn’t get carried away.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “I thought you were into it.”

  “I am...” She shook her head slightly, biting her bottom lip. “And that’s what scares me. I could easily get too into it with you, Henry.”

  “That’s a bad thing?”

  “If I lose control...” She shook her head. “I can’t. Bad things will happen.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Her eyes flickered. I saw a peculiar blue tinge around them. As if there was magic...

  That’s crazy. We don’t have magic in this world. Just in the game.

  “I mean, Henry, you aren’t the only one with power. I have things too...things I’ll tell you about some other time.” She sighed, looking down at my fingers, which she caressed gently. “Just know that I really do want to be with you...and perhaps someday, we will. But for now, we can’t.”

  That was a huge disappointment. But I understood.

&n
bsp; She moved over to my desk area where I had my computer and some other stuff set up. “So, since I can’t actually give you what you need...I can at least help you find someone who will.”

  I walked over to join her, taking a seat beside her. “What do you mean? You’re going to help me find a girlfriend or something?” Trish didn’t really count, after all. She and I were roommates, and yeah we’d had sex...but I attributed that to whatever weird moment had taken over us then.

  “Maybe not a girlfriend, but you’ll be able to satisfy your urges with her.” She logged into my computer — how she knew the password, I wasn’t sure — and pulled up a website. It was one of those dating websites with lots of attractive girls. People I would never think of messaging. They’d never talk to me, after all.

  Of course, she picked the cutest girl on the screen... one with bright pink hair and a sweet smile. She had several pictures, a few of which were a little on the sexy side, with poses of her looking demurely at the camera. Cleavage showing. Wearing just a tight little pink tank top.

  It was clear she was trying to look a little bit sexy, and she’d definitely achieved that. Her name on the site was Avenger12.

  “So, are you ready to message her?” JR asked, looking back me.

  “Um, I don’t think that’s wise. She wouldn’t be into me.”

  “Yes, she would.” JR gave me a serious look. “Trust me.”

  “Do you know something I don’t?” I asked, giving her a look.

  “Yes. I know that you have unlocked a power that you had inside you all along, and women will respond to it.”

  I still didn’t really grasp what that meant, but I was willing to accept her words.

  “Okay, send her a message,” I said. “Tell her I’m interested. That I’d like to meet up.”

  She nodded and typed in something into the message window. Then she pressed Send.

  I have no idea how this is going to work out.

  But sure enough, a short time later, a response came in. I was getting ready to plug back into Solstice, but before I could, JR came over to me and settled down on the edge of my desk, showing me her phone.

  “Look. She wants to talk to you. See?”

  She showed me the message. It was true: Avenger12 wanted to meet up.

  “You must have known what to say,” I told her, smirking. “Huh. She wants to meet at the arcade.”

  “You’ll have fun there. Maybe you can get pizza after.”

  I went to get my jacket. “It’ll be weird if you’re not there,” I told her. JR had been my guiding force, so far. “What if I fuck up or something?”

  “Trust yourself. You need to learn to do that.”

  I sucked in a deep breath, then nodded. She’s right. I need to learn to trust myself. Plain and simple.

  “All right. Wish me luck.”

  She smiled and stood, reaching up and giving me a kiss on the cheek. “You’ll be amazing, stud. I promise you.”

  I wanted to stick around and have sex with her.... but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. She wasn’t able to let go, and I respected that.

  But maybe someday...

  For now, I had a hot girl waiting for me at the arcade.

  ****

  When I arrived at GameWorld a short time later, the cute girl was there. Her bright pink hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She smiled and waved as she saw me.

  “Hi, Henry.” She offered her hand. “I’m Samantha.”

  “Nice to meet you. Though I kinda liked Avenger12.”

  She giggled. “Yeah, I liked that too. I thought it sounded cool.”

  “It does.”

  We went to play some of the games that were set out on the side wall. There was the basketball game, where you’d throw balls into the little hoops, as well as some fighting games — and one simulation game where you sat in the vibrating seats to feel like you were actually there.

  As we sat down in the simulation game, Samantha snuggled against me. I say snuggled, but really she was practically sitting in my lap by the time we started. Apparently, JR’s theory had been correct.

  We played the game together, traveling down a huge skyway along a space-themed area, with stars twinkling around us in a vast universe.

  Her character — a pink haired girl — met mine. We goofed around on screen for a while, making our avatars talk to each other.

  Then, another guy came on screen, some kind of space orc or something. He explained to us that a plague had taken hold of the star plane — the area we were in. “You, adventurers, must travel into the wilds of Spacetime to find the source of the plague that has overcome our citadel.”

  “Okay, space orc,” I said.

  Samantha giggled. “He’s pretty ugly, huh?”

  “I’ve seen worse.”

  “Oh really?”

  As she squirmed a little bit on my lap, I felt myself getting hard — and tried to ignore it.

  We set off into the space wilds, driving a little capsule that we had complete control over. I did the navigation; she did the shooting. Along our way, we were bombarded by enemy fire.

  “Careful,” Sam warned. “There’s a big influx coming in on our left.”

  “I see. You take them out, we go in hard?”

  “Yeah, sounds good!”

  We worked well as a team, my slick navigation skills coupling well with her ability to fire just at the right time. Enemy ships blew up into tiny fragments in front of us.

  Before long, we’d made it to our goal. This game was pretty rudimentary — a series of levels where we shot things and avoided random space crap. It was simple, but a lot of fun.

  When we finished, I gently guided her off my lap and adjusted myself before getting out of the seat. She must have noticed, because she gave me a grin.

  “Your pants tight?”

  “Just a little.”

  “I’m going to chalk it up to the cute girl you just had on your lap.”

  “Yeah...”

  I watched as she swayed down the walkway in front of me. I shook my head. I guess I’ve gotten myself into something I never expected...

  But I sure as hell wasn’t complaining. Sam was super cute.

  We spent the next few hours exploring the mall, getting ice cream together and then sitting to talk for a while. She was friendly and companionable, liking to chat about little things — and deeper ideas as well.

  “Do you want to come back to my place?” I asked at the end of our date. I was a little worried about seeming too forward, but she was giving me good vibes, so far.

  “Yeah, I’d like to.” She smiled and took my hand.

  Together, Sam and I headed home.

  Chapter 7

  “You should show me some of Solstice.”

  We were back at my place, hanging out in the living room.

  “You really want to see it?” I asked, raising a brow.

  “Yes! You’ve talked about it so much. It must be a good game. At least give me a little glimpse.”

  I raised a brow, then shrugged. Sure, why not? It’s not like there’s anything I have to hide from her... Except maybe the gorgeous babes I’m banging in the game...

  Not that Sam seemed like the jealous type. If anything, she seemed really sweet and pleasant.

  I fired up the game and logged in, picking up where I had left off. Ely, Nell and I were walking carefully down the strange path in the town center of Kolarith. We had to avoid the strange black holes that sucked away all your energy and vitality — and apparently made you disappear into some kind of netherworld.

  “Careful,” I warned Nell as she got a little too close to one. “Don’t step in it.”

  She nodded, looking up at me trustingly. It was sweet how readily she had latched onto me, implicitly seeming to recognize I had her best interests at heart.

  Finally we reached the end of the twisting path, finding our way onto a much easier road. I still wasn’t sure what our next move should be. We didn’t have much direction, other t
han knowing the dragon was behind this, and somehow we had to get to him.

  “Where should we go next?” asked Ely. “The path ends here.”

  “I don’t know. It’s kind of hard to figure out where we are,” I said.

  Indeed it was. We were out in the middle of the purple forest, in the middle of nowhere. It seemed the town had just indeed. And the weirdest part was, when I looked back — the town was gone.

  Well damn. That didn’t help matters much. Now we were out in the middle of nowhere, alone... and we didn’t even have the town with us anymore.

  “You look lost,” a voice growled. I turned back and there, standing before us, was an ugly purple orc. With tusks elongated and angled toward us, he didn’t look friendly.

  In fact, he appeared to want to kill us.

  Great. Time to get ready...

  We met the orc in battle. Ely did her usual, protecting me with a shield, while Nell surprised me by attacking the orc with a shout of “Keeeeyah!” and a flying tiger leap. She used a series of swift strikes and blows to deal a lot of damage very rapidly. Apparently she had some kind of monk training, as she used her fists with enormous dexterity. Her little fox tail flew out around her as she spun and kicked, her strikes well-timed and practiced.

  The orc growled with rage. I followed up with several attacks of my own. Between the three of us, he didn’t have the advantage — but he was also extremely well-armored. It wasn’t easy to carve through the thick plates covering him. He wielded a heavy 2-handed axe, bringing it down on us with surprising speed.

  But we fought back. And we were prepared. Operating in tandem, as though we had some kind of invisible mind-link, the three of us worked as one unit. Ely healed and shielded me while Nell continued her fierce attacks. I timed mine between hers, and before long, the orc’s health was dropping fast.

  “Die, bastard,” I grunted, slicing deep into his flesh with both swords. His armor cut away to pieces, the ugly creature fell to the ground, a bloody, dying mess.

  The only problem? By the end of the fight, I was kind of a bloody mess, too. Not a dying one, but I wasn’t in great shape, either.

  “You’re going to need healing, sir,” said Ely, coming up to me and supporting me. She helped me to my feet and leaned in close, looking at me with concern.