Chapter 20 - Chapter 19.5: Good Sunday

The motes of lights around her finally dissipated, allowing her to blink trying to focus her vision. After a few seconds, the sight of a clear lush forest was spread out in front of her.

At first it was quiet as she turned her head going from the greenery to the people around her, but it quickly devolved into screaming, shouts, and wails of confusion in several different languages she didn't understand or recognize.

Someone suddenly grabbed her arm.

“Claire! Are you ok?!” the voice asked, her head snapping to it.

“Jared!” she shouted nearly whimpering, “W-where are we?! The room, the man, he… He said so many confusing things!”

Jared had a difficult expression on his face, clearly wanting to say something but held back.

“I know, I know. Don’t worry, I'll take care of it. First, we need to find a safe place,” he said firmly, his eyes darting around the area.

A moment later another scream rang out, different from the others. Not a shout of confusion or despair but a real guttural scream of pain and desperation.

Both of their heads turned to the voice, their faces paling at what they saw.

A man. No an animal, an ape was digging into a body while the person was still alive. They no longer screamed but gurgled as they reached out, their eyes begging for help but it was obviously too late.

Claire gasped covering her mouth as she shook in fear, Jared gritted his teeth as his hand quickly went to the sword at his waist as he got in front of Claire.

“Stay behind me and back up slowly. Claire,” he whispered, “Get up, we need to go.”

But Claire’s legs wouldn’t listen after she saw the grotesque scene. She began crying and whimpering while her hands gripped the back of her brother's shirt.

Jared tried his best to calm her while keeping his eyes on the strange wild animal making sure it didn’t do anything but their luck wasn’t in their favor today.

The ape snapped its head to the pair, a beastly grin on its bloodied face exposing its long fags and smushed face. With a howl, they could only compare to some ghastly horror movie animal the ape rushed forward on all fours toward them.

Jared cursed holding his sword in a shaky grip as he yelled, “Bring it on damn it!”

“Jared!” Claire shouted, trying to will power into her jello-like leg but couldn’t muster any strength.

The animal collided with her brother as they tumbled past her in a tangled mess, grunts and a scream of pain coming from the two.

Claire looked on in horror as she was unsure who had screamed between the two, finally able to bring herself up to rush over putting a white knuckled grip around the staff she was given by the man in the room.

Reaching the unmoving animal and her brother she raised it above her head ready to swing it down with all the power she could muster.

“W-wait!” Jared gasped, pushing the monster off himself, “I-I’m ok. I managed to get lucky and it just ran into the sword.”

Jared looked at his shaking hands as he seemed to be in elation. In a few moments, his eyes went distant then returned to normal a second later as a huge smile crept across his face.

“J-Jared?” Claire asked confused and concerned for her brother.

“The lady. She didn’t lie, this is like a game. Claire, I got a level up from killing that thing!” he shouted.

The people who had previously run away began to peek out from behind trees and bushes as they noticed the danger had been taken care of. Some began talking amongst one another as they pointed at the felled creature.

“What do you mean you got a level up?” someone asked.

Jared pointed to the monster, “Just inspect the thing, it's called a Vampiric Ape and it gives a quest!” he said, forgetting that he was covered in the thing’s blood.

After a round of questioning and the rest of the people around them eventually forming groups, Jared and Claire formed their own small party.

Jared killing the monster had boded well for them as they got some very enthusiastic people asking to join them once things had calmed down from the hectic start they all had.

Claire could only go with the flow for now. She was still frightened and confused for the most part. She wasn’t accustomed to games and these types of things like her brother was. She had been planning on studying in college like their parents wanted them to, being a good daughter. Going to church every Sunday, studying hard, never getting into trouble.

She and her brother briefly talked about what was going on before they set out. Both wondered where their parents were, and what they were doing here. They exchanged what had happened in their respective rooms in their ‘introductions’ eventually asking the others in the group they had formed.

But it seemed that no one had a clear idea of what was happening and their experiences varied wildly from one person to the next. Some had detailed explanations of certain aspects while others had been stonewalled by their ‘helper’.

Unable to glean anything they had no choice but to follow the quests that they had. One for their next class upgrade and the Vampiric Ape Subjugation Quest.

Claire gripped her staff as she walked in the back part of the group, unsure of their future. But she relaxed slightly as she saw the back of her older brother courageously walking in front.

Maybe it won’t be so scary. As long as I have Jared here… She thought warily.