CHAPTER 34: Deja Vu...
“Have a name for the little guy yet?” I asked Brenden as his chunky summoned squirrel leapt from one tree to the next overhead.
Brenden sighed, his face twisted and I could instantly tell had been stewing the name, “Not yet. It must be something, strong... Valiant!”
“I’m calling him Nutters.” The squirrel fell from a branch to Brenden’s shoulder. I reached over to give the little guy scritches on his head, “You like that don’t ya, Mister Nutters?”
“Absolutely not! I shall name my own beast, thank you sir!” Brenden decried, a second later I heard whispering, “Sir Nutters of the… No, that doesn’t work.”
Something cracked overhead, “Down!”
I tackled Brenden and his squirrel to the ground. A large log flashed above, slamming the tree we just passed. The crushing sound of log on log triggered arrows to rain from the sky. Brenden tossed a charged ice pebble up the hill, I kept Brenden in front of me as we ran to find cover. His rock landed and we heard a scream in the distance.
An angry growl escaped Brenden as we ducked to cover, “Rrr, Fools!”
I mirrored his emotions as I thought of a plan on the spot, “Yeah, don’t throw. Hide out here. Have Nutters sit in the tree and hammer anyone who comes close. If you absolutely have to, freeze ‘em. Be right back.” I received a nod from Brenden and took off as his squirrel scaled the tree.
I cut between trees, working my way around the hill the stray group perched themselves upon. I was hit by three arrows as I ran. Two regular arrows hit me in the back, barely gaining purchase. The last shot ripped a hole the size of a golf ball through my thigh.
“Ffff—Fuck!”
Idiots, you wouldn’t like me when I get mad.
I ran faster on my wounded leg, pushing myself to close the distance. I dodged the normal arrows that fell but was hit by another powerful shot that cut a hole clean through my shoulder. I ducked behind a tree and copied Brenden’s squirrel. I stopped at the last thick branch toward the top of the tree, took a few steps, and jumped.
I saw the blind where they were hiding and arrows flew out in all directions.
They’re shooting at, nothing. What the hell is going on?
If I let gravity do its thing and carrying me down, I would land right in front of the bunker with my chest facing the window. I kicked off of a different Pine tree as I fell, correcting my trajectory.
I fell directly onto the blind, collapsing the poorly made structure.
“Stop!” I shouted removing Conviction’s Claw, ready to slice them all in half if they made one wrong move.
“R—Rick?” I heard a familiar voice from behind and turned my head.
“Cole... I knew this janky blind looked familiar. You never did fasten the top like dad showed us.” I said not moving until his people lowered their weapons.
“Lower your Bows! Now goddammit! He’s my little brother!” Cole commanded.
He was forced to step in front of one man who didn’t seem to be a great listener. Once we met eyes I stored my blade.
He grasped me in a tight desperate hug. I looked over his shoulder to see another man crying in pain and holding a frozen arm in place with his other.
Cole let go, clearing his eyes as he smiled, “We thought you were—How? You were always glued to that damn phone?”
“Ha, right... Work called as soon as I got home, aagain. I got angry, threw the thing in the sink and took Arthur outside, now I’m here.”
“Holy crap. We all thought you were gone. Dad took it hard. Mom said you were fine. It was like she somehow knew. Fuckin A.”
“Yeah, she always does.” I smiled and led him away from the blind, “Come on, I have a buddy waiting down there. Be nice, he’s just a kid.”
“Fuck you mean, be nice? I’m always fuckin’ nice, asshole.” He said mocking.
Man, I think he swears more than I do...
“Yeah right. What were your nicknames for my friends? Butterteeth, Baby Ears Barry, Dingleberry Derek, Armpit Aaron, and your favorite, Poop Tooth. Real nice guy... None of your shit head high school antics. If you do, I’ll let him fuck you up.”
He laughed at the mention of the old nicknames he gave my friends, “Alright point made. I’m not 18 anymore though, Littledink.”
“Yeah, you’re 18 going 35, it always amazed me how such a nerd was always the biggest ass.” I teased as we walked to the tree where Brenden was hiding. The squirrel started popping shots at Cole as we approached, “Hey! It’s us!” I stepped in front of my brother taking the shots.
“Rick, I would have been fine. You’re all fucked up though.” He said, finally noticing the holes in my body, he looked down to his now bloody button-up shirt, “Shit, Ava is going to be pissed at me for ruining this one.”
Brenden walked around the tree to meet us, “Brenden, Cole. Cole, Brenden.” I introduced.
“Pleasure to meet you sir,” Brenden greeted.
“Ah, I like this one already.” Cole said, “Nice to meet you kid. Thanks for taking care of this dipshit.”
“It wasn’t easy.” Brenden said.
“Alright, fun fun. So what’s the deal? Have you guys figured anything out, how many people are stuck in here with you?” I stopped the shit on Rick-fest before it gained anymore speed.
“There are six of us in the dungeon, or I suppose eight now including you guys. We lost two others already. Let’s go meet with the others then we’ll go over everything.” Cole said, leading back up the hill.
“Why the fuck did you fire on us anyways?” I asked.
“The trap was triggered. We thought you were The Stalker.”
“You couldn’t see us? I know whoever hit me in the leg and shoulder definitely saw me clear enough.” I argued his point.
“That’s Bill. He uh. Well—He’s sort of lost it. He was the first person to stumble into the Dungeon. He says he’s been in here for months now. I knew him before the rapture; he used to be a really down to earth guy. This place has changed him.” Cole explained.
The man, Bill, was approximately 45 years old. Short, athletic build with a balding col-de-sac of a head. Something about him seemed off from the moment I entered the blind.
“Yeah, seems like the way of the world now.” I said.
We reached the others at the hunting blind that I completely destroyed due to it’s weak top frame. Brenden checked on the man with the frozen arm and pulled out a small tincture of something he whipped up.
I watched as the man downed the shot of liquid in one gulp. His arm thawed within seconds as an alleviated smile grew on his face. He hugged Brenden while they both apologized for the attacks. I listened to everyone speak around me, and I could tell they were scared and jumpy. They had no clue what they were shooting at. The attack was led by this Bill guy who told everyone he saw The Stalker.
Whatever that is.
“So have you seen this thing you’re hunting?” I asked the small group as we followed them.
“Yeah, it’s about 7 feet tall, moves through the fog, attacks with hit and run strategy. It sort of freezes you, almost like what the kids spell did to Jim’s arm.” One man answered, I was yet to get his name, “We don’t have many details. I saw an arm and the shape of a large man.”
“This must be part of the mystery!” Brenden squeaked quietly.
“Yeah, not a fun part. Hold up, we’ll tell you more. Let’s get inside first.” Cole said as we crossed the peak to start downhill.
Hiding in the fog below was the small town of Glastenbury. There were two roomy buildings near the front, beside the logging trail, and behind them was a half-circle of small cottages plucked right out of the late 1800s. The tiny village was nestled tightly in the center of the descending mountains. The area was somehow familiar, even though I’d never seen these buildings in my life.
“Watch your step, you never know if one of the Elementals are below.” Cole said as he stepped awkwardly, “Try to avoid the rocks. If you step on an Elemental it’ll wake ‘em all up.”
“Elementals?” Brenden asked.
“Yeah, Earth Elementals, nasty fuckers. Tough to break apart. Blunt damage works best.” Cole answered.
As we walked down the hill we spoke about our builds, Cole was only level 18 despite being trapped in here for months. Everyone in the group was around the same level with Bill being the highest at 19. Cole explained his class and profession and I did the same, receiving a lot of kickback for choosing my class. Apparently, I had more class choices than most here.
We reached the small valley and Cole spoke first, “Recognize where we are?”
“No, but I was just thinking it looks familiar.” I answered, searching my memory.
“Imagine these houses are all gone and only the stone foundations remain.” Cole said as he pointed to a young Weeping Willow growing in the center of the cottages.
“This is our hideout?” I asked, the tree being the obvious giveaway.
“Yup.”
There was a place in the woods where we would ride our dirt bikes or hike to, usually following the old logging trails. We called it The Hideout. It’s where we met when we were done riding for the day. We explored the area and dug around in the old foundations while sharing a drink. Soda when we were kids, then graduating to Beer once I hit 13.
We spent the night one time when I was 14 and never went back. Set up under the willow was our little fire pit where we pitched out tent. As we sat at the fire Cole was trying to scare me by telling ghost stories about the area. He was obsessed with that Ghostly Adventure show, me and my father would just laugh, making fun of the buff guy with the hair.
As he told his stories I heard chains or some sort of metal rattling in the woods behind us. I thought one of my brothers friends was coming to meet up and decided to pull a prank on me, but the look on my brothers face told me I was way off the mark. The chains jingled for a while then crashed against stone loudly. The noise moved from one area to the next, circling us faster than humanly possible. I was even hit by one of the shattering rocks, at which point we jumped on our bikes and rode like hell back to my fathers camp in the dark.
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“Dad never believed us.” I said, entering the old town hall building and finding a seat around the large meeting table.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t either.” Cole responded.
“So, who’s in charge?” I asked.
“Me.” Bill chimed in with anger in his voice, pulling out a chair and standing at the end of the table, his eyes not leaving mine.
“Have we figured out the mystery that needs to be solved? Not much in the system description but I got a feeling that there’s multiple items to solve.” I asked, trying to ignore the intense glare I received from Bill.
“We, have solved one of the mysteries. You, should not be here.” He said plainly, if looks could kill, his eyes would shoot lasers causing me to explode and cover everyone in the room in my gore.
Cole seemed to wince then stood up, “No, none of us should be here Bill, but we are and so is he.”
“It’s fine Cole.” I said reaching out my arm to grasp his shoulder and quiet him. He almost seemed scared of the man, but that wasn’t the Cole I knew.
“No, it’s not Fine, you can’t stay here. It’ll draw too much attention.” He said, his eyes still not moving from mine.
I held his gaze, “I don’t intend to stay here, Big Bill Doyle.” I did my best John Wayne, “I’m going to close this dungeon, hopefully claim a Safe Zone, then get this guy back to his wife and children. You’re all more than welcome to join us, even Mr. Billy the Kid. As long as you don’t try to murder me again.”
I pushed lightly but kept a friendly smile, seeing what type of reaction I would get. I was expecting may be a little bit of anger, or yelling maybe. I was hoping my childish nicknames and the stupidity of it would make him crack, or at least loosen him up so he could see that he was being overly intense.
I was not expecting the reaction I got...
Bill kicked the chair behind him, it crashed into the wall as he leapt over the table at me. He drew his bow and loosed an arrow at my face.
I summoned Conviction’s Claw and parried the arrow.
He loosed another before landing. This shot was aimed low.
I ignored the arrow, letting it drill through my stomach and stick in the wall behind me. As Bill crossed the space between us his bow disappeared and he removed a dagger from his waistband and attempted to plunge it into my head. I foined with my sword, switching mid-thrust for the assegai and funneling two blunted casts of Gale Charge through my weapon. The first gust erupted, pushing him back against the far wall. The second him punched through the thin wall where he tumbled down the hill outside.
Brenden charged a pebble beside me, “Wait, let me.” I reached my arm to stop him then leapt over the table and through the hole in the wall to meet the man outside.
Bill tumbled end over end until his momentum stopped at the bottom of the hill. He attempted to stand only for me to land in front of him and send another gust into his chest that pushed him further into the ground.
His health bar showed up now, at 80%.
[Bill Laurent]
[Native]
[Dissonant-Syncopation]
My mind reeled at the new addition to the old status effect.
“NOW WE KNOW HE IS YOUR BROTHER, NOW WE KNOW WHERE THEY REST.” Bill’s pained scream paired with unhinged laughter.
His voice sounded as if someone else was in there with him. His high-pitched screams merged with a deeper voice, several octaves lower.
“Fuck off. Go to sleep.” I slammed the haft of my spear into the man’s temple then hollered, “Cole, come here!”
Cole left the spectators standing at the top of the hill with mouths agape. He approached with Brenden following closely.
Still in shock, Cole yelled, “What the fuck was that, Rick?!”
“View his tag.” I said.
“I can’t, that’s not how it works.” He said still confused as to what happened and unsure where to throw his anger.
“Dissonant… Hmm, syncopation?” Brenden whispered to himself.
“Just look, he went hostile.” I said waiting for him to read it.
Cole read his name and system designation then looked up confused, “What in the dick does that mean?”
“It’s a status effect. From some Demons I ran into up North.” I said while hogtying Bill to the displeasure of the crowd, “He has a different form, which must be why he was able to attack me. Before, the dissonant couldn’t attack each other while they were possessed. I guess this is a work around. That doesn’t matter though, right now you need to tell me everything you told him about the outside.”
“What the hell have you got us into Rick…” Cole said confusion and anger crossing his face as he pointed it my way.
My patience was wearing thin and I snapped, “Answer, now.”
“I told him about Mom, Dad, Ava, my boys... Why?” He asked, fear starting to show.
“Did you tell him where camp is located?”
“Well yeah, of course. I was going to let everyone come back with us if we get out of here. I didn’t know you were making enemies with the devil! It’s going to take us too long to get out of here.” His face turned pale.
“No it won’t, I don’t fully understand the distortion yet, but even if it is a month in here, it will only be a hours, maybe a day outside the dungeon.”
“What does that mean? How do you know any of this?” Cole asked, apprehension in his words.
I tried comforting him with the truth, “There’s a time delay or distortion on dungeons. You said yourself that you’ve been in here over a month, but it’s only been a day outside the dungeon. I know this, because I’ve cleared one already. Plus, Ava told me when you left. It was just yesterday morning.”
His eyes flooded with worry and longing, “You saw them? How are they?”
“They’re safe. Arthur is with them.”
“You left them with a dog and brought the only other man with you? Dad has to be back, right?” Cole asked.
“No, he didn’t make it back, I’m going to find him when we leave. What does it matter if it’s a man or a woman? Also, Arthur grew a bit.” I said.
“It doesn’t—Stop trying to trap me. I don’t care if it’s a man or woman, I’d rather have someone higher level and capable there to protect them. Not your fuckin’ dog! Why the hell would you do that?!”
“He isn’t just a dog, he is my boy, and he has leveled up quite a bit. He has you beat.”
I could see the anger building inside of my brother, “What do you mean he has me beat? You sayin’ your dog levels up with you? Get the fuck out of here. Now is not the time for your bullshit, Rick.”
“21 last I asked.” Brenden chimed.
“Your dog is level 21? Jesus Christ, now really isn’t the time.” He said still not believing.
I snapped, “Cole, look around you! The world is not the same. Yes, my dog is level 21. There are levels that we gain like a fuckin’ video game! He can’t talk, yet, you’ll be helping us with communication when we get out of here, but he laughs, he makes jokes, mostly at my expense, and he protects those he loves with his fuckin’ life. He is a vicious and feral monster if you fuck with him. Your family is probably the safest on the planet right now, so shut the fuck up and let’s get to work.” Nothing else seemed to get through to him and I was getting sick of him brushing off everything that Arthur had accomplished.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.” He said confidently.
I haven’t punched my brother since that day, but I was very close to changing that.
Instead, I took a deep breath, “Let’s just get back up there and talk. You have an empty house for this one?”
Jim, the man Brenden chilled out then thawed, was the first to speak, “I’ll take him to the cabins. I’ll put him in the last one. There isn’t anything in there, so no way for him to cut the ropes.”
“Thanks Jim.” I said, surprising the man.
“Notta problem!” He answered then dragged Bill’s unconscious body away.
The six of us sat around the table. I gave everyone a moment to digest what just happened to their old leader, then started with the same question. The conversation finally started moving.
Apparently, there were a few stories about this place that I’d never heard. It seemed like every tall tale ever told was part of the “Mystery”. They cleared one of the side quest which apparently involved hiking to the highest peak in the dead of night. Once arriving, a spaceship zipped appeared overhead and beamed down three foot tall aliens who attempted to abduct them. The aliens were system generated mobs simply called, Green People.
Cole explained how they looked like the little green aliens with big heads and large black eyes pictured in cartoons, toys, and so many other different outlets. The “Green People” used little pistols that shot deadly lasers. They were also able to teleport with the click of a button.
That all sounds… Absolutely fucking ridiculous...
I received quest updates each time a new subject was mentioned.
Quest Update! “Spooky Ghost Stories: The Bennington Triangle” – Objective Found: “Big Feet”— Find where the mysterious Bigfoot hides.
Quest Update! “Spooky Ghost Stories: The Bennington Triangle” – Objective Found: “The Stalker”— Find and kill ‘The Stalker’ who preys on and tortures the innocent local hiking community.
Quest Update! “Spooky Ghost Stories: The Bennington Triangle” – Objective Found: “Man Eating Stones”— Find and destroy the Earth Elemental of Abenaki Legends.
I was not excited when I read, “Big Feet”. I had a feeling something very weird was in store for us, but I was hoping it was just a shitty play on words that I hadn’t heard before.
“We should split up. I’ll take Brenden and whoever else wants to come and we’ll handle this Stalker thing. The rest of you can try to figure out the big feet objective? It doesn’t say you have to fight a Bigfoot, although I would be prepared, just in case. It just says find where it hides.” I offered my opinion, getting a few head nods of approval.
“Okay, Bill had us waiting here. He thought the stalker had something to do with this town but I don’t know if anything he said was real now.” Jim voiced.
“Jim, why don’t you travel with them. You’d make a good tank for them, Alice can take that role for us. We’ll go look for Bigfoot’s house.” Once Cole finished speaking, we split into groups and left the building.
“I know this may seem odd, but take your shoes off when you feel like you’re close. There’s always something weird with these dungeons. Pay attention to all of your senses.” I yelled to the other group who were deciding which way to go, I had a feeling the ‘Big Feet’ wording may be a hint, “Cole! Remember Bo-bo? Try our calls!”
Cole burst into laughter, “I’m not screaming like some moron in the middle of the woods while I slap two sticks together.”
I joined in on the laughter, my response sing song, “Ya never know!”
After sharing our inside jokes, Cole and his group went North to find Bigfoot, planning to move through the gaps in the mountains rather than over any summits. We sketched out a map with each route for both groups before leaving, while they moved North, we would be heading Southwest to the hiking trails.