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Description

Chapter 1

Matt raced out of his class as quickly as he could, followed closely by his best friend and roommate, Jake. College was boring and something forced on both of the boys. Matt’s parents demanded he get out of the house and make something of himself. They said he was fat, lazy, and spent too much time wasting away in front of his computer. Sure, Matt admitted to himself, he could stand to lose a few pounds, but who couldn’t? He was five-ten and somewhere around 280 pounds. His hair hung down in loose brown curls which framed an unkempt bearded face. Matt was also wearing a threadbare blue hoodie and torn jeans, his usual fare.

And then there was his friend, Jake. Jake’s parents were paying for his classes in an effort for him to get a good job. He had spent most of high school working at Gamer’s Place and playing online games in his room at home. Jake was six feet tall, slender, and wore all black. His t-shirt read, ”I went outside once. The graphics weren’t that great.” It was the kind of thing Jake always wore; catchy nerd shirts. Girls would probably find Jake more attractive than Matt, by far, if he didn’t insist on wearing black makeup and fingernail polish to match his jet-black dyed hair.

Reaching the parking lot, Matt dropped himself into the driver’s seat of his beat up gray Honda Accord. Jake threw his messenger bag into the back seat and sat down on the passenger side with a sigh.

“Let’s get home, man. Being here sucks the life out of me,” Jake muttered.

With a quiet nod, Matt started the car and drove off campus. It was late fall and the sky was already getting darker even though it was barely passed late afternoon. Heavy clouds were rolling in carrying the threat of thunderstorms. The boys listened to some chillstep music as Matt drove them downtown towards their apartment, small rain drops spattering on the windshield getting heavier as they got closer to home. By the time they had reached the apartment building, it was pouring rain, forcing the boys to run quickly from the car to the front door.

Matt stepped through the door to their apartment and took off his hoodie, tossing it aside. It was soaked so he grabbed a heavier pullover sweatshirt from his room. He was cold, but he always felt cold. Poor circulation from lack of exercise, his parents had always said. When he made his way to what was the dining room but was now the gaming room, Matt sat down in his over-sized computer chair. Jake was already sitting in the chair at the desk adjacent to Matt’s own and was logging into their favorite game: ”Meta-Human City.” It was a massive multiplayer online game in which a person could create and play as almost any kind of superhero. The customization was truly remarkable, but even more impressive was the fact that it was a virtual reality game. Matt logged in and pulled his VR headset on, noticing Jake had already done the same.

Suddenly Matt was in the world of meta-humans. The log in spawn area was a large lobby, centered in the game world’s headquarters building. Matt, however, was now the heroine, Cals’tha the Ice Priestess. While she was only wearing pure white tube top and a mini skirt, Cals’tha had the ability to form protective armor and twin blades out of ice with a mere thought. She could freeze foes and dash enemies with powerful blasts of frozen air. Matt had created his alter ego to have pale blue skin and elven features. He had maxed out the sliders for breast size and hip dimensions making Cals’tha very curvy. She was cold beauty personified.

Standing in the lobby next to him, Matt saw Jake’s character, Shade. Like Jake himself, Shade was tall and wore all black in the form of a tank top and shorts with buckle boots. She was athletically built, had short black hair, and pale skin. Jake had made his in-game persona mirror his own physical interests as Shade had slender legs, narrow hips, and a petite bust. While she may appear unassuming at first glance, Shade was able to harness shadows with her dark magic and use them to smother enemies, shield friends, or summon a pet wraith.

Both Cals’tha and Shade were level 50 characters, the highest level the game allowed for, which meant that Matt and Jake spent a lot of time running daily missions or just roleplaying with other players they ran into. Matt turned to look at his partner and asked, “So, what do you want to do today? The Ogre Hunter event is still going on.” Instead of his normal, nasal, boyish-sounding voice Matt sounded like a haughty woman with a silky voice. The game modified his voice through filters so that as he spoke through Cals’tha, her blue lips communicated in a voice that matched her regal Drowish appearance.

In a tone of voice that sounded almost too cute for her appearance, Shade replied as she shook her head, “Nah. Let’s go see what’s goin’ on at the Eleven.”

Matt was a little surprised by his friend’s response. The Eleven was what most players called the Eleventh Hour club. It was a dark, industrial techno club in a district too dangerous for low level characters. A number of serious roleplayers went there to hang out and get together in order to avoid the less serious roleplaying crowd. It was also on the border of the area dominated by villainous players, however, the club was neutral ground. It was a great place to meet the seedier members of the game world and intermingle. It was also not typically Matt’s first suggestion for fun as he was not as into roleplaying as Matt was. With a wide smile, Matt replied through Cals’tha excitedly, “You know I am always good with that.”

Using Shade’s Shadow Teleport travel ability, the two girls soon found themselves outside of the Eleventh Hour. The club was located in an old industrial area, surrounded by giant cement hoppers, conveyors, asphalt grinders, and factory houses. The Eleventh Hour itself was a renovated factory building, but it retained that cold and industrial look throughout. The building was situated on a street that was crowded with buildings lining both sides for blocks, but the only visible activity was situated outside the Eleventh Hour itself. All manner of meta-humans were coming and going through the front doors, which were twelve feet tall and made of frost-etched glass framed by darkened steel. The club’s symbol, a clock tower striking eleven o’clock was etched into each door’s glass pane. As Cals’tha and Shade walked through the doors and into the entryway vestibule, Matt and Jake both saw red flashes in their peripheral vision letting them know all powers and abilities were nullified from here on in.

The Eleven’s main floor opened up into a large dance hall in the center that was full of patrons writhing in tune with the music. Bordering the dance floor were underlit steps that led to a raised dais which surrounded most of the hall. All around the dais were bars lined with stools toward the room’s center while bench seating behind rectangular tables made up the perimeter. A number of club goers were seated around the dais. It was darker with dim colorful lighting illuminating the area just enough to see who was seated with you. The hall was open from the floor all the way up to the ceiling three stories tall. Looking up, Matt saw the many private alcoves patrons could visit. Many of these alcoves were used for romantic interludes between players, sometimes involving non-players as well, but a few rooms had other lesser-known occupants with dark reputations.

With a sway of Cals’tha’s hips, Matt began moving toward the dance floor when Shade’s firm grasp stopped him. “Not tonight. We are going to see someone upstairs,” Shade said, almost too quietly to be heard. “Come on.” Shade tugged Cals’tha after her as she walked in the direction of the elevators to the left.

Following with some reservation, Matt finally inquired once they were inside of the elevator. “Why are we going to the rooms? We just got here. Who are we meeting?”

Matt could see the obvious hesitation Jake was feeling through Shade’s expression, but the slim shadowcaster replied after a moment, “The Witch.”

Cals’tha backed against the wall of the elevator opposite the door. Matt was completely unprepared for such an insane waste of their evening. He had heard of the Witch, of course. Many older players had heard of her. There were rumors upon rumors about her, but if you sifted through them enough you found that some of those rumors were frighteningly too coincidental not to be real. Players who had been around for a long time, since the game’s design phases, all whispered about the non-player character known as the Witch. They believed she was an older AI code fragment that rebuilt itself in the game after developers tried to remove the code entirely during testing. They said she was too advanced for a game and almost sentient in her behavior. They said every program has its ghosts and she was theirs, but it didn’t end there. The Witch, as she called herself here, had been rumored to perma-ban players from ever returning to the game, rewrite characters entirely, and to have even killed players in the real world by terminating their brain functions here in the game world.

It has also been rumored she can grant wishes… for a price.

“Jake- Shade! We can’t go to the Witch! Are you insane?” Cals’tha moved to block the elevator door with her hands spread. “We- We don’t even know if she’s real!”

Shade regarded the panicked Drow for a moment before offering a rare smile and placing her hand on Cals’tha’s shoulder. “She is real. Deregborn and I have been doing some digging around. We found her and she resides here, in room 301.” The door slid open behind Cals’tha and Shade slipped passed before turning and offering an open hand. “Come on. What have we got to lose?”

Through Cals’tha, Matt takes his friend’s hand to follow her obediently, while quietly whispering, “Our lives, probably…”

The pair walked down the dimly lit hallway, following door numbers from 251 on up until they reached room 300 on the right-hand side at the end of the corridor. The hall went no further, dead-ending in an alcove adorned with a painting of the Eleventh Hour, a pair of potted plants, and a grandmother clock. There were no more doors and no 301. “See? No 301. She doesn’t exist… Not here anyways,” Matt stated through Cals’tha, sounding almost as relieved as he felt. At least until Shade continued on to the clock. Pulling open the glass face, Shade spun the hands of the clock to indicate eleven o’clock. The clock chimed and upon the eleventh chime, she pushed in the Roman numeral, XI for eleven on the face and the clock slide aside revealing a door handle. The placard above it read “Room 301.” Cals’tha took a step back, shaking her head as Matt watched in disbelief. “I don’t think this is a good idea…”

“You’ll thank me later,” Jake promised through Shade’s darkly painted lips. Grabbing Cals’tha by the arm, Shade pulled her through the opening that appeared as she twisted the handle and pushed. Everything went black.

Matt suddenly had the sensation as though he were falling, but that shouldn’t have been possible. The game did not work that way – it was not possible for it to affect a player in such a manner, yet he felt it. There was a sickening lurch and Matt felt as though he might vomit and then… Nothing. He reached up and tried to remove the VR helmet, but his body did not seem to be obeying him.

Panic began to set in just as his vision cleared and Matt saw he, or more correctly Cals'tha, was in a room dominated by a large easy chair and a pair of couches set on opposite sides of an ornate coffee table. The furniture looked very Victorian and old although everything about the room was very clean and perfectly ordered. Stacks of old books and tomes were neatly placed on small side tables along the striped walls, upon which were a couple of closed doors and numerous framed portraits. The room was adequately lit by candelabras and sconces. The air smelled of orange blossoms and blackberry tea, though Matt had no idea how he could even know that to be true. The coffee table was adorned with three place settings of small tea cups, saucers, and spoons.

Noticing Jake’s character was standing next to his own, Matt whispered to his friend quietly, “Where are we?”

Shade shook her head slowly, Jake clearly as unprepared for this as Matt was. “I think we are-“

“In my home,” a soft feminine voice interjected. As if she had been there the entire time, a short red-headed woman stepped out from behind the easy chair. She looked to be no older than twenty, though her violet eyes set in tanned skin bespoke years more knowledge. Her red hair was tied in a tight braid that was pulled forward over her right shoulder and she wore a very casual purple jersey sweater and tight black leggings. “Please have a seat,” she offered kindly, gesturing to the couch which had two place settings before it. Taking a seat upon the opposite couch, the red-head sat back comfortably, cradling a cup of tea between her small hands.

Shade paused for a moment and then moved to sit across from the stranger. Matt hesitated. To say this was strange would have been an understatement. He again tried to reach up to find the VR helmet on his head, but once more only Cals’tha’s arms moved.

“That will not work here, my dear,” the young woman stated evenly, looking up with a piercing glare. “You came into my home, so I would appreciate it if you graciously accepted my offer to sit with me.” Her hand once again gestured to the empty space beside Shade.

Matt moved to sit beside his friend, staring at the red-headed woman sitting across from them.

Taking a sip of her tea before cradling it back between her hands, the woman regarded each of the friends in turn with her violet eyes. “So, you are here. You have found me. What is it you are so desperately seeking that has brought you to my home?”

Matt turned to see Shade, through Jake, was trying to find the words to speak but her mouth moved without a sound. He was shocked, and Matt could understand why. This was the fabled Witch, or it seemed that was the case. Matt was really uncertain as to what he should believe right now.

As if reading his thoughts, the Witch turned to Matt with a smile and spoke with no little amusement, “Yes, I am the one they call the Witch, Matthew Donovan. At least, that is what they call me here.” She took another sip of tea before continuing, “Your friend Jacob here sought me, and I have answered his pleas.”

How- How in the world could this NPC know their names?! This was impossible, unless it was somehow able to access account information.

“I do not need your account information, Matthew. As soon as you chose to enter my domain, everything about your life became mine. I know that every day in high school you were teased for being overweight. You were harassed for being too nerdy, too into Anime, and spending all of your free time living inside of video game fantasy worlds, just as you are now.” The Witch set her tea down and rose to stand before Cals’tha. She squatted down and placed her hands on Cals’tha’s bare thighs as she looked up into the Drow woman’s eyes. Matt somehow felt her touch and his mind tried to make sense of it. “I am all too aware that you have never known the touch of a girl and crave it so badly that you now fantasize yourself as one in the games you play. You over sexualize your characters and use that to take advantage of others, yet pretend it is done in innocence.” Rising to stand between Cals’tha’s knees, the Witch lifted the Drow’s chin so their eyes met. “You have become so convincing in your deceit that you even fool actual women who play within this fantasy.” She turned her head to look down at Shade, who silently watched. “Jake has never been as comfortable in his role as Shade, not like you have been, yet Jake wishes so very much for the same thing you do…” She paused and stepped back a small measure.

“Escape.” Through Cals’tha, Matt uttered the word without even realizing he had.

"Escape," The Witch said in confirmation. "That is why I have allowed you here, why I have invited you into my home," she stated plainly while stepping away and gesturing to the room around them.

"So, um, escape from what... Exactly?" Matt asked tentatively.

The Witch smiles broadly, her violet eyes sparkling as she replies, "Why, escape from everything, Matthew. I am offering to free you from a life where people dismiss you, no one truly appreciates you, and no one outside of your family loves you. I am offering to free you from a dead end, mundane life of attending classes and a meaningless part-time job." Her smile fades and instead reflects a twinge of sympathy, as does her tone. "I want to give you the lives you both truly want, even though that truth may be unclear to you."

Jake and Matt turn to look at one another through the eyes of Shade and Cals'tha before Matt asks what is on both of their minds, "How can you do anything to change our lives when we can't even do that ourselves? I don't understand..."

Suddenly, Matt felt lightheaded and noticed his vision growing dim. The last thing he saw was the Witch, with an ever-growing smirk, walking toward them. She spoke though her voice sounded far away and as though it were coming from a tin can, "Not yet, but you will soon. Very soon..."

The world went black.

Part one of a story commission for . The request was open to allow for a freedom to write a story containing two specific characters, and because of its length, I decided to break it up into separate chapters.

Chapters:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4 (Coming soon...)

Epilogue (Coming soon...)

Description

Chapter 1

Matt raced out of his class as quickly as he could, followed closely by his best friend and roommate, Jake. College was boring and something forced on both of the boys. Matt’s parents demanded he get out of the house and make something of himself. They said he was fat, lazy, and spent too much time wasting away in front of his computer. Sure, Matt admitted to himself, he could stand to lose a few pounds, but who couldn’t? He was five-ten and somewhere around 280 pounds. His hair hung down in loose brown curls which framed an unkempt bearded face. Matt was also wearing a threadbare blue hoodie and torn jeans, his usual fare.

And then there was his friend, Jake. Jake’s parents were paying for his classes in an effort for him to get a good job. He had spent most of high school working at Gamer’s Place and playing online games in his room at home. Jake was six feet tall, slender, and wore all black. His t-shirt read, ”I went outside once. The graphics weren’t that great.” It was the kind of thing Jake always wore; catchy nerd shirts. Girls would probably find Jake more attractive than Matt, by far, if he didn’t insist on wearing black makeup and fingernail polish to match his jet-black dyed hair.

Reaching the parking lot, Matt dropped himself into the driver’s seat of his beat up gray Honda Accord. Jake threw his messenger bag into the back seat and sat down on the passenger side with a sigh.

“Let’s get home, man. Being here sucks the life out of me,” Jake muttered.

With a quiet nod, Matt started the car and drove off campus. It was late fall and the sky was already getting darker even though it was barely passed late afternoon. Heavy clouds were rolling in carrying the threat of thunderstorms. The boys listened to some chillstep music as Matt drove them downtown towards their apartment, small rain drops spattering on the windshield getting heavier as they got closer to home. By the time they had reached the apartment building, it was pouring rain, forcing the boys to run quickly from the car to the front door.

Matt stepped through the door to their apartment and took off his hoodie, tossing it aside. It was soaked so he grabbed a heavier pullover sweatshirt from his room. He was cold, but he always felt cold. Poor circulation from lack of exercise, his parents had always said. When he made his way to what was the dining room but was now the gaming room, Matt sat down in his over-sized computer chair. Jake was already sitting in the chair at the desk adjacent to Matt’s own and was logging into their favorite game: ”Meta-Human City.” It was a massive multiplayer online game in which a person could create and play as almost any kind of superhero. The customization was truly remarkable, but even more impressive was the fact that it was a virtual reality game. Matt logged in and pulled his VR headset on, noticing Jake had already done the same.

Suddenly Matt was in the world of meta-humans. The log in spawn area was a large lobby, centered in the game world’s headquarters building. Matt, however, was now the heroine, Cals’tha the Ice Priestess. While she was only wearing pure white tube top and a mini skirt, Cals’tha had the ability to form protective armor and twin blades out of ice with a mere thought. She could freeze foes and dash enemies with powerful blasts of frozen air. Matt had created his alter ego to have pale blue skin and elven features. He had maxed out the sliders for breast size and hip dimensions making Cals’tha very curvy. She was cold beauty personified.

Standing in the lobby next to him, Matt saw Jake’s character, Shade. Like Jake himself, Shade was tall and wore all black in the form of a tank top and shorts with buckle boots. She was athletically built, had short black hair, and pale skin. Jake had made his in-game persona mirror his own physical interests as Shade had slender legs, narrow hips, and a petite bust. While she may appear unassuming at first glance, Shade was able to harness shadows with her dark magic and use them to smother enemies, shield friends, or summon a pet wraith.

Both Cals’tha and Shade were level 50 characters, the highest level the game allowed for, which meant that Matt and Jake spent a lot of time running daily missions or just roleplaying with other players they ran into. Matt turned to look at his partner and asked, “So, what do you want to do today? The Ogre Hunter event is still going on.” Instead of his normal, nasal, boyish-sounding voice Matt sounded like a haughty woman with a silky voice. The game modified his voice through filters so that as he spoke through Cals’tha, her blue lips communicated in a voice that matched her regal Drowish appearance.

In a tone of voice that sounded almost too cute for her appearance, Shade replied as she shook her head, “Nah. Let’s go see what’s goin’ on at the Eleven.”

Matt was a little surprised by his friend’s response. The Eleven was what most players called the Eleventh Hour club. It was a dark, industrial techno club in a district too dangerous for low level characters. A number of serious roleplayers went there to hang out and get together in order to avoid the less serious roleplaying crowd. It was also on the border of the area dominated by villainous players, however, the club was neutral ground. It was a great place to meet the seedier members of the game world and intermingle. It was also not typically Matt’s first suggestion for fun as he was not as into roleplaying as Matt was. With a wide smile, Matt replied through Cals’tha excitedly, “You know I am always good with that.”

Using Shade’s Shadow Teleport travel ability, the two girls soon found themselves outside of the Eleventh Hour. The club was located in an old industrial area, surrounded by giant cement hoppers, conveyors, asphalt grinders, and factory houses. The Eleventh Hour itself was a renovated factory building, but it retained that cold and industrial look throughout. The building was situated on a street that was crowded with buildings lining both sides for blocks, but the only visible activity was situated outside the Eleventh Hour itself. All manner of meta-humans were coming and going through the front doors, which were twelve feet tall and made of frost-etched glass framed by darkened steel. The club’s symbol, a clock tower striking eleven o’clock was etched into each door’s glass pane. As Cals’tha and Shade walked through the doors and into the entryway vestibule, Matt and Jake both saw red flashes in their peripheral vision letting them know all powers and abilities were nullified from here on in.

The Eleven’s main floor opened up into a large dance hall in the center that was full of patrons writhing in tune with the music. Bordering the dance floor were underlit steps that led to a raised dais which surrounded most of the hall. All around the dais were bars lined with stools toward the room’s center while bench seating behind rectangular tables made up the perimeter. A number of club goers were seated around the dais. It was darker with dim colorful lighting illuminating the area just enough to see who was seated with you. The hall was open from the floor all the way up to the ceiling three stories tall. Looking up, Matt saw the many private alcoves patrons could visit. Many of these alcoves were used for romantic interludes between players, sometimes involving non-players as well, but a few rooms had other lesser-known occupants with dark reputations.

With a sway of Cals’tha’s hips, Matt began moving toward the dance floor when Shade’s firm grasp stopped him. “Not tonight. We are going to see someone upstairs,” Shade said, almost too quietly to be heard. “Come on.” Shade tugged Cals’tha after her as she walked in the direction of the elevators to the left.

Following with some reservation, Matt finally inquired once they were inside of the elevator. “Why are we going to the rooms? We just got here. Who are we meeting?”

Matt could see the obvious hesitation Jake was feeling through Shade’s expression, but the slim shadowcaster replied after a moment, “The Witch.”

Cals’tha backed against the wall of the elevator opposite the door. Matt was completely unprepared for such an insane waste of their evening. He had heard of the Witch, of course. Many older players had heard of her. There were rumors upon rumors about her, but if you sifted through them enough you found that some of those rumors were frighteningly too coincidental not to be real. Players who had been around for a long time, since the game’s design phases, all whispered about the non-player character known as the Witch. They believed she was an older AI code fragment that rebuilt itself in the game after developers tried to remove the code entirely during testing. They said she was too advanced for a game and almost sentient in her behavior. They said every program has its ghosts and she was theirs, but it didn’t end there. The Witch, as she called herself here, had been rumored to perma-ban players from ever returning to the game, rewrite characters entirely, and to have even killed players in the real world by terminating their brain functions here in the game world.

It has also been rumored she can grant wishes… for a price.

“Jake- Shade! We can’t go to the Witch! Are you insane?” Cals’tha moved to block the elevator door with her hands spread. “We- We don’t even know if she’s real!”

Shade regarded the panicked Drow for a moment before offering a rare smile and placing her hand on Cals’tha’s shoulder. “She is real. Deregborn and I have been doing some digging around. We found her and she resides here, in room 301.” The door slid open behind Cals’tha and Shade slipped passed before turning and offering an open hand. “Come on. What have we got to lose?”

Through Cals’tha, Matt takes his friend’s hand to follow her obediently, while quietly whispering, “Our lives, probably…”

The pair walked down the dimly lit hallway, following door numbers from 251 on up until they reached room 300 on the right-hand side at the end of the corridor. The hall went no further, dead-ending in an alcove adorned with a painting of the Eleventh Hour, a pair of potted plants, and a grandmother clock. There were no more doors and no 301. “See? No 301. She doesn’t exist… Not here anyways,” Matt stated through Cals’tha, sounding almost as relieved as he felt. At least until Shade continued on to the clock. Pulling open the glass face, Shade spun the hands of the clock to indicate eleven o’clock. The clock chimed and upon the eleventh chime, she pushed in the Roman numeral, XI for eleven on the face and the clock slide aside revealing a door handle. The placard above it read “Room 301.” Cals’tha took a step back, shaking her head as Matt watched in disbelief. “I don’t think this is a good idea…”

“You’ll thank me later,” Jake promised through Shade’s darkly painted lips. Grabbing Cals’tha by the arm, Shade pulled her through the opening that appeared as she twisted the handle and pushed. Everything went black.

Matt suddenly had the sensation as though he were falling, but that shouldn’t have been possible. The game did not work that way – it was not possible for it to affect a player in such a manner, yet he felt it. There was a sickening lurch and Matt felt as though he might vomit and then… Nothing. He reached up and tried to remove the VR helmet, but his body did not seem to be obeying him.

Panic began to set in just as his vision cleared and Matt saw he, or more correctly Cals'tha, was in a room dominated by a large easy chair and a pair of couches set on opposite sides of an ornate coffee table. The furniture looked very Victorian and old although everything about the room was very clean and perfectly ordered. Stacks of old books and tomes were neatly placed on small side tables along the striped walls, upon which were a couple of closed doors and numerous framed portraits. The room was adequately lit by candelabras and sconces. The air smelled of orange blossoms and blackberry tea, though Matt had no idea how he could even know that to be true. The coffee table was adorned with three place settings of small tea cups, saucers, and spoons.

Noticing Jake’s character was standing next to his own, Matt whispered to his friend quietly, “Where are we?”

Shade shook her head slowly, Jake clearly as unprepared for this as Matt was. “I think we are-“

“In my home,” a soft feminine voice interjected. As if she had been there the entire time, a short red-headed woman stepped out from behind the easy chair. She looked to be no older than twenty, though her violet eyes set in tanned skin bespoke years more knowledge. Her red hair was tied in a tight braid that was pulled forward over her right shoulder and she wore a very casual purple jersey sweater and tight black leggings. “Please have a seat,” she offered kindly, gesturing to the couch which had two place settings before it. Taking a seat upon the opposite couch, the red-head sat back comfortably, cradling a cup of tea between her small hands.

Shade paused for a moment and then moved to sit across from the stranger. Matt hesitated. To say this was strange would have been an understatement. He again tried to reach up to find the VR helmet on his head, but once more only Cals’tha’s arms moved.

“That will not work here, my dear,” the young woman stated evenly, looking up with a piercing glare. “You came into my home, so I would appreciate it if you graciously accepted my offer to sit with me.” Her hand once again gestured to the empty space beside Shade.

Matt moved to sit beside his friend, staring at the red-headed woman sitting across from them.

Taking a sip of her tea before cradling it back between her hands, the woman regarded each of the friends in turn with her violet eyes. “So, you are here. You have found me. What is it you are so desperately seeking that has brought you to my home?”

Matt turned to see Shade, through Jake, was trying to find the words to speak but her mouth moved without a sound. He was shocked, and Matt could understand why. This was the fabled Witch, or it seemed that was the case. Matt was really uncertain as to what he should believe right now.

As if reading his thoughts, the Witch turned to Matt with a smile and spoke with no little amusement, “Yes, I am the one they call the Witch, Matthew Donovan. At least, that is what they call me here.” She took another sip of tea before continuing, “Your friend Jacob here sought me, and I have answered his pleas.”

How- How in the world could this NPC know their names?! This was impossible, unless it was somehow able to access account information.

“I do not need your account information, Matthew. As soon as you chose to enter my domain, everything about your life became mine. I know that every day in high school you were teased for being overweight. You were harassed for being too nerdy, too into Anime, and spending all of your free time living inside of video game fantasy worlds, just as you are now.” The Witch set her tea down and rose to stand before Cals’tha. She squatted down and placed her hands on Cals’tha’s bare thighs as she looked up into the Drow woman’s eyes. Matt somehow felt her touch and his mind tried to make sense of it. “I am all too aware that you have never known the touch of a girl and crave it so badly that you now fantasize yourself as one in the games you play. You over sexualize your characters and use that to take advantage of others, yet pretend it is done in innocence.” Rising to stand between Cals’tha’s knees, the Witch lifted the Drow’s chin so their eyes met. “You have become so convincing in your deceit that you even fool actual women who play within this fantasy.” She turned her head to look down at Shade, who silently watched. “Jake has never been as comfortable in his role as Shade, not like you have been, yet Jake wishes so very much for the same thing you do…” She paused and stepped back a small measure.

“Escape.” Through Cals’tha, Matt uttered the word without even realizing he had.

"Escape," The Witch said in confirmation. "That is why I have allowed you here, why I have invited you into my home," she stated plainly while stepping away and gesturing to the room around them.

"So, um, escape from what... Exactly?" Matt asked tentatively.

The Witch smiles broadly, her violet eyes sparkling as she replies, "Why, escape from everything, Matthew. I am offering to free you from a life where people dismiss you, no one truly appreciates you, and no one outside of your family loves you. I am offering to free you from a dead end, mundane life of attending classes and a meaningless part-time job." Her smile fades and instead reflects a twinge of sympathy, as does her tone. "I want to give you the lives you both truly want, even though that truth may be unclear to you."

Jake and Matt turn to look at one another through the eyes of Shade and Cals'tha before Matt asks what is on both of their minds, "How can you do anything to change our lives when we can't even do that ourselves? I don't understand..."

Suddenly, Matt felt lightheaded and noticed his vision growing dim. The last thing he saw was the Witch, with an ever-growing smirk, walking toward them. She spoke though her voice sounded far away and as though it were coming from a tin can, "Not yet, but you will soon. Very soon..."

The world went black.

Part one of a story commission for . The request was open to allow for a freedom to write a story containing two specific characters, and because of its length, I decided to break it up into separate chapters.

Chapters:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4 (Coming soon...)

Epilogue (Coming soon...)