Chapter 12

“How is any of this real?” I ask.

“Technology. When World War 3 began, governments knew that the world wouldn't survive it. Manolo's work was illegal back then. However when the wars broke out, they turned to the Manolo Corporation feeding them billions to fix things. When it ended Manolo was richer than most of the world powers. He used that money to create something new from the ashes of the old world. He used technology to create a world just like a game.”

“What technology can make the world look like this?”

She shakes her head, “He calls it the Mother Cell. Once humanity was distracted, the mother cell took over and this world is what's left. A reality that seems like it's a virtual game. This is our world now. This is it...”

“So are we it?” I ask, “Are we all that's left?”

“Of Humanity. No. There are more. There are to be three awakenings. Two have already happened. The first awakening were a lot less. There were 100 people that woke up first.”

“Shaunie was one of them?”

She nods.

“The Rebellion guild. They were the originals. The first awakening didn't go well. The players from the first awakening had resentment. Most of them were taken forcefully like Shaunie. They were kidnapped and their deaths were faked. The resentment led to protest. A guild called the Rebellion was started. The rebellion failed and the majority of the Beta users were killed. The rest of us went into hiding.”

It makes sense why Shaunie was hidden under a statue.

I shake my head realizing that he targeted good gamers on purpose. Manolo wanted to make sure that this game was safe first.

“What about the 2nd awakening?”

“That's you guys. There are a lot more of you. You actually signed up because you thought that you were actually playing a game for money. He hopes with you guys that this time he will fix all the glitches in his system. Still there are some that exist. One in particular is worrisome to him.”

I think about it.

“Sarafine.”

She nods.

“She's a glitch to the system that I created. She's a threat to his power. Manolo wanted to become a God in the system he created. There was an actual girl named Sarafine once. A real girl. She was my friend. We started working at the Manolo corporation at the same time. We all believed in what he was doing. We all believed he was saving mankind. To be honest I was brainwashed back then. One day Sarafine spoke out against the fact that Manolo would have too much power in this reality he was creating. The next day Sarafine was gone. Manolo took her out back and killed her.”

My mouth drops.

“Sarafine is...”

“My friend. A good friend of mine when I was 18. She is a computerized version of my best friend who spoke out against Manolo.”

My mouth is open when I realize how Celeste looked at Sarafine. Celeste was so much older. She was a mature older woman. It's hard to believe that she started this thing when she was just 17. The timeline was so weird. Celeste probably created Sarafine long after I was frozen.

“Is that why we need to keep her safe?”

“The third awakening is going to happen. Manolo froze millions of other people. When they wake up he won't have any use for us. We will probably be too strong. Most likely he'll try to kill all of you guys like he tried to kill the Rebellion Guild.”

“Killed?”

She nods, “A final reset. That's what he means by beta. A beta is just a test for the real thing. The real thing is going to start soon and he needs Sarafine gone before then.”

“This has to be a game. I've never been hungry,” I tell Celeste.

Until now that is. I don't add that part though.

“The drug that everyone was frozen with is the reason you don't feel hunger. Soon it's going to wear off soon and people are going to start realizing that they aren't in a game. It won't take long before people connect the dots and realize that the world they lived in was destroyed. Soon the third awakening is going to happen...”

I nod.

I have no choice.

“So what happens now?”

“I'm leaving. I'm going to find out more about what Manolo has planned. I need to find out where he has is keeping one million lucky people who were frozen for the third awakening. In the meanwhile, I need you to take care of the Rebellion guild.”

“What?”

“You are my leader. You're my champion. I'd like you to take in my guild for me. They can be Fire Walkers. A lot of them are high level. You'll need them. Trust me.”

I think about it.

I did need the manpower. Manolo won't be happy when he hears from Tiger what we did to the Warriors of Light. I'd need the back up.

“I have one question.”

“Yes.”

“Did Hunter know...” I ask her.

I have no doubt Shaunie knows. I have no doubt the other members of the Rebellion knew. Still Hunter was the one person who I wasn't sure of. He was Manolo's son. He was around me this entire time. He was my fucking friend.

Celeste gives me a stare that lets me know the answer to my question.

I run into the room and grab Hunter off of his seat. Joaquin seems to protest all of a sudden, “Whoa...what the hell.”

“Mind your fucking business,” I tell Joaquin.

Hunter seems to notice I mean business when he turns to Joaquin and nods, “I'll be right back.”

A few of the others are looking at me when I do it. I am beyond pissed. I pull him up the steps and as soon as he gets to the top of the stairs, I close the door behind us and punch Hunter right in his stomach. Hunter coughs up a little bit at that moment.

“I figured you would feel some type of way about me hanging around Joaquin but I didn't know you were that upset. Damn,” Hunter says with a slight smirk.

“I'm not jealous. I'm pissed.”

Hunter looks at my face to see that I'm not amused at all. He seems to know what I'm talking about after a second or two.

“Celeste told you.”

“How could you have not told me? How could you really make me believe we were in a fucking game this entire time?” I ask him.

Hunter shakes his head at me and walks closer, “You think I didn't want to tell you? Do you understand how panicked people will be if they lost hope. Everyone they know back in the real world is probably dead. Who wants to break that kind of news to someone?”

“You're just like your fucking father,” I state shaking my head.

“How can you say that?”

“Because you fucking lied to me yo!” I scream in his face, “I'll never fucking forgive you for this. What the fuck?”

“Listen. My father and I don't agree on a lot of things but he was not always the guy he is now. He was extreme. Yes. He kidnapped people. He fooled people into thinking they were signing up for a game. Yes. He did all of those things, but you know what else?”

“What?”

“He was right.”

I'm so mad that I want to hit Hunter again. I throw my fist at Hunter's face but this time Hunter is fast. He catches my fist in his arms and holds me there for a second. I look in his eyes and I can see that right now we are not on the same page with this. The fact that he is defending his father in anyway is blowing my fucking mind right now.

“You're sick,” I say.

“The world was going to be destroyed. He knew it. He called it. If he hadn't created the Play Dead Mother Cell we wouldn't have anything left.”

“Then why the fuck are you here? If you believe in his vision so much, why the fuck are you helping us?”

“I don't think he needs that much power. I want to protect Sarafine. I want to build this world the right way,” Hunter explains, “I want to start this off the right way.”

“Lying to your friends is starting things off the right way?” I ask.

Hunter shakes his head and grabs me at that moment, “I'm doing this for you. Um. Wait. That sounded weird. I mean---I'm doing this for us. All of us.”

At that moment I swear I want to trust Hunter. How can I though? This whole time he was lying to us. This whole time Hunter knew we weren't in some fucking game. God knows how involved Hunter had been in this. I had to wait for Celeste who I barely knew to come and explain to me what was really going on while Hunter knew this whole time. I feel betrayed. I feel backstabbed. I don't care how soft Hunter's hands are. I don't care how cute he looks when he holds me close and presses his chest against mine. I don't trust Hunter. That's always been the case with him. He just was too sneaky. He just wasn't trustworthy.

Someone knocks on the door and before they open it I step away from Hunter. I cross my arms and I realize that I'm on the brink of tears when I see Madden standing there. Madden looks at Hunter then he looks at me. Then he looks at Hunter again.

“What the fuck did you do now?” Madden asks Hunter.

“Nothing,” Hunter replies, “We are just...having a heart to heart. We're happy we're winning the game. Right Killian?”

Hunter looks over at me. I can tell that by the look he's giving me he's trying to get me to lie. The game? How sick is that? How sick is it that Hunter's father designed this world to look and feel like a video game. It wasn't one. This was real life.

Still. Madden has something to go back to. Madden had a life. Madden had a future. He had a family. I couldn't break the news to Madden that unless his family is part of the third awakening they are most likely all dead. How could I tell someone something like that without completely destroying them?

I nod.

“Yeah.”

Hunter nods, “You want to go down and get something else to drink Killian?”

I shake my head.

“No. Why don't you go? Joaquin is waiting for you,” I tell him.

Regardless of if I'm keeping up Hunter's lie for him I'm not doing it happily. There is so much tension between us and it's clear when Madden looks on. Hunter isn't the type to stick around and try to dig more emotion out of me though. He nods at that moment and leaves the room without another single word. Madden stays behind.

Madden is the type to want more out of me. I can feel his eyes on the back of my head. I hate the fact that I'm lying to him.

Maybe I'm saving him though. Maybe it's best that he doesn't have to bear the burden of knowing the truth. Sometimes the lie was better then the truth.

“Are you ok?” Madden asks me, “Did I walk in on something?”

“I'm fine. I just want to be alone.”

Madden walks up from behind me, “You're never alone. I told you that.”

He puts his arms around me. I can feel his warm breath on the back of my neck. I can feel his crotch pressed up against me. He holds me tightly and for that moment I believe him. It makes me even more sick to know that I am lying to him about the game. It makes me sick to know that I will have to keep lying to him about it.

“What about my brother?” I ask.

Madden laughs, “I was talking to him a lot downstairs...”

“Clearly.”

“And you know what the conversation was about?” he asks.

“I don't want to know.”

“It was about you,” Madden explains, “When I first met you I used to look at you and see your brother. Now I look at your brother and see you. I couldn't stop talking about you. I couldn't stop thinking about you. Sometimes you don't fall for someone the first time you meet them. Ok. I'll admit to that. Sometimes it takes the 50th time you see them or maybe the 100th time you see them. Sometimes it's slow. Easy...”

He turns me around at that moment. Madden is slow. Madden is easy. He leans me up against the wall. With all the strange things that have been happening it feels good to see him look at me with those familiar eyes that he used to have before Shaunie showed up.

Now with me being so mad at Hunter I have to admit I don't feel guilty about anything. I don't feel guilty when he presses his lips up against me. I don't feel guilty when he sticks his tongue into my mouth. We kiss deeply and passionately for a few seconds. Our tongues clash and I can feel this passion that I never felt.

“So you don't love him?” I ask, still feeling the insecurity of my brother all around me.

Madden shakes his head.

“Naw. He's straight. He's my best friend still. I'll admit that, but I'm feeling you,” he explains, “But can we uh...keep that a secret? Your brother will kill me if he finds out about us.”

“Wait...” I stop him, “There's an US?”

Madden takes off his shirt.

His muscle glisten. He throws his shirt on the ground. Right now Madden could care less about Hunter or Tiger or any of the other bullshit. His eyes are undressing me as he undresses himself. Within a matter of seconds Madden is completely naked. He stands there in all his glory staring at me with this love and tension that blows my fucking mind. I feel this deep connection with Madden as he picks me up and walks me over to the bed.

He lays me on the bed.

He snaps open my fly and lets my dick pop out of my jeans.

Then he leans over me, slowly and whispers straight into my mouth, “There is MOST definitely an us.”

His breath is sweet. I couldn't believe I thought this whole time that we were in a game. Looking back it looked so stupid. He kisses me a few times allowing us to feel on one another. He takes off my shirt and throws it on the ground. When it falls on the ground he uses that opportunity to suck on my nipples.

“Fuck...”

Madden is slower then Hunter. He's more deliberate. He's not having sex. Madden is making love. I can almost tell the difference. He's not as forceful. He is passionate but so caring as he licks all over my body. He licks every inch of me. His tongue curves around my abdomen and the sides of my stomach. He flips me over and nibbles on my ass. He doesn't bite. He just nibbles softly and playfully. I found myself laughing a few times as he does it.

“Can I..have you?” Madden asks me, “It's OK if you say no. It may be too soon.”

He was so modest. I love it. He was such the gentleman. For some reason I'm turned on when Hunter is being aggressive and I'm also turned on when Madden is acting like the chivalrous knight that he is. I have to admit I'm amused when he asks if it's too soon.

If only he knew how long I've been waiting for this.

“Its yours...” I tell Madden.

The words just come out of no where. Madden smiles at me and starts to lick me. His tongue is deep down my ass. He makes sure that I am wet and ready before he sticks his dick in.

“You're tight...am I hurting you?” Madden asks.

His dick slides deep in me. It's slow at first, but Madden's dick is huge. I can feel him in parts of me I didn't know existed. He lets me feel all around him and I let out a deep exhale. His body is a lot more muscular than the slim frame of Hunter as well. Madden presses deep inside of me, licking the side of my neck.

“No...it feels good,” I tell him.

That's an understatement. Madden is slow but he has rhythm. He's not trying to beat it up like Hunter. Madden is trying to dance in me almost. I can almost hear the slow jams when he slowly rocks his hips up and down inside of me. The world around me doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what year I am in. it doesn't matter if God created this world or if the Manolo Corporation did. Right now I am stuck in my head and enjoying his easy stroke.

He strokes upward, to the left, to the right, downward and upward again before taking his dick out of me. He lets me yearn for more before going deep in again and starting his dance all over.

While he fucks me he whispers.

“I want you to be mine.”

I assume he's just doing sex talk. My ass is dripping wet from the emotion of it all.

“Yes. This ass is yours. This ass is yours.”

Madden stops at that moment and he corrects me, “No. Not your ass. I want your heart. I want everything. I want you to be mine.”

He turns my mouth towards his. He kisses me from behind me.

“Wait...like a relationship?”

He nods, “Yeah. I want you to be my boyfriend.”

Holy shit.

I smile at that moment. Maybe this day wasn't all bad. Maybe I wouldn't end up alone. Maybe the revelation of this new world wasn't the worst. Right now I felt like this was a whole new start. Madden didn't just care about me because we were stuck in a game.

This was reality.

In our reality Madden was asking me to be his.

“Yes.”

========================================================================

It's been a month since Celeste has been gone. With 50 new members in the guild we had to expand which lead us to spending a lot of time building the guild house. 50 new members also meant 50 new people who were enemies of Manolo and his moderators. More fame. More danger.

As walk through Red City, I see a poster that Killian is the number one enemy.

I've become the face of a revolution.

“Do I really look that fat in the face?” I ask Noah.

I find Noah in a store at Red City. Red City is a city little far from the other cities. You can only go to Red City if you are above level 60. The city isn't even red. It is a more urban city than the other cities. It reminds me of maybe the slums of Detroit. There were a lot of abandoned buildings. There were a lot of broken down architecture and things like that.

I show Noah a drawing that they have for me. The posters all over all the cities. I have become something like a hot topic. Luckily the NPCs in the store and the players who are above level 60 don't seem to recognize me because I've grown a little bit of a goatee in the last month. I've also gotten a lot bigger. I've been eating a lot. Hunter says once you realize the truth you get hungry. He calls it a side effect of the programming. Hunter won't tell me much more about his father's programming and how this works.

He just said that it was complicated.

Way more complicated then Hunter probably even knew.

“Your butt is getting fatter,” Noah laughs, “Probably from your boyfriend using you twice a night as his personal theme park.”

The idea that Madden is now my boyfriend still seems weird.

I can't help but to smile at Noah, “You jealous?”

“Uh no. That sounds gay. I'm annoyed. You guys have sex way too much. Demona is starting to get her hopes up. You know I can't deliver like that.”

I laugh. It's been a few weeks that Demona and Noah have made it official. They were complete opposites but it worked. I've never seen Demona so satisfied to be honest and I've never seen Noah so serious about anything ever. He wants to make this relationship work. That's the reason we are in this store right now. We got sidetracked and we're looking for gifts for our lovers.

“You think Demona would like this ring?” Noah asks.

“Ring?”

Noah laughs, “Do you think it's too soon? I mean this is just a game marriage...nothing like a real world marriage. You never played a game where you can get married?”

I feel bad at that moment. Noah doesn't know this isn't a game. Noah still thinks we are trapped in the virtual world. He didn't realize that this WAS our world now. This was all he had. I want to tell him. I sit there for a moment and think about it.

“Would you want to marry Demona...if this was the real world?” I ask.

He thinks about it for a minute, “Yeah. That sounds crazy doesn't it. We fight like cats and dogs. I love that girl though.”

I smile, “I'm all for it.”

That's when Noah does the oddest thing. He leans forward and he hugs me. He gives me a real hug. He wraps his hands around me at that moment and I feel like I'm really loved. I didn't have friends back in the old world. I figured I could only make friends in video games. However this video game was my real world now. The fact that he's hugging me right now almost makes me want to cry.

“You've always been there,” Noah tells me, “We started this thing together. You know that. We've fought side by side. You've always supported me. It means the most that you're here man. You know that right. You understand that?”

Fuck. Tears start falling down at that moment. I struggle to maintain myself. I play with Noah's curly hair in order to distract him from this sob shit. With all the shit that we've been through it's moments like this that make it all worth it. It's moments like this that makes me feel like maybe this new world isn't that bad at all.

Maybe the future was going to bright after all.

“Can you stop being a sob?”

“I can't help it. Demona has me feeling like the woman in the relationship,” Noah laughs, “You should know how that feels since you get banged out all the time. Madden is definitely the dominant one in the relationship.”

I laugh, “Speaking of relationships---you think Madden would like this necklace?” I ask Noah, “It gives you +5 dexterity stats. And it's kind of cute.”

“Why are you buying Madden a necklace?” a voice says from behind me.

Fuck.

Noah and I give each other a look. We don't have to turn around before knowing exactly who it was.

I turn to see Shaunie standing there.

“Hey Captain Cockblock,” Noah tells my brother.

My brother doesn't know about Madden and I. Madden was his best friend and my brother was protective of me. That's saying the least. He still sees me as that extrovert boy from when we were younger who needed protection from the world. He didn't realize that now I had actual friends. Now I had people that actually cared about me.

“You guys were supposed to meet me an hour ago to head back to the guild house,” Shaunie complains.

“This digital time goes fast,” Noah laughs.

Shaunie is annoyed by him.

“Can I have some time alone with my little brother please?” he asks Noah.

“Sure. I'll just go twiddle my fingers and be ignored somewhere else,” Noah replies.

Shaunie watches him the entire time he leaves.

He looks over at me, “Why do you hang out with that loser? He's a bad influence on you.”

Shaunie's friends in the guild were the cool guys. Madden fit right in with them. The Rebellion guild and my old guild were all one now but the Rebellion guys still stuck to themselves for the most part. We were just different. I understood it. Me and my friends had history and I'm sure a lot of them had history as well.

“Sorry I can't be you Shaunie. Word around the guild is that all those Rebellion guys want you to take over.”

Shaunie doesn't deny it. His people don't have confidence in me as guild leader. They don't even seem to hide it. Truth be told they may have had a point. Shaunie was a higher level than I was. He was way more mature. Shaunie's life was getting the guild to be the strongest one in the game.

That was difficult though. After the Warriors of Light broke up a lot of different guilds started popping up out of no where. The guilds were stronger and giving us a damn good run for our money.

“I have a list of issues that people have with you,” Shaunie says, “Maybe we can go over it together?”

“You took a poll?”

“A survey,” he responds, “As guild leader it's important you listen to the people you lead. I think this feedback makes sense. For instance you spend too much time with your friends. You are with Madden more than I am and that's my best friend.”

Every time he brings up Madden things get awkward. I can't let Shaunie know about me and Madden under any situation ever.

I shrug it off, “Madden and I have a lot in common.”

“Well we came to this city to get some motorcycles for the guild----not shop for Madden.”

“Relax. We'll get the motorcycles. There's no rush.”

“Manolo knows who you are. There are posters everywhere with your face. You need to be stronger.”

I roll my eyes. Here we go again. My big brother showing me the fact that he was a more competent leader than I was and rubbing it in my face.

“What's the point of leveling? This isn't a game anyway.”

Shaunie panics when I say it. He grabs me close and puts his hand over my mouth as if I'm some sort of child letting out family business. I push him away. I realize that two mages and a rogue have walked into the store. They walk around for a few minutes, purchase a few items and then leave the store before Shaunie opens his mouth again.

“You can't say that out in public.”

“People deserve to know...”

“I told Celeste it was a mistake telling you,” he responds, “You don't get it. The only thing keeping these people playing this game is because they think that they get to go home when its done. If people knew the truth do you know how many suicides there would be? Could you imagine?”

“You have no faith in people,” I respond.

“Look around you. People are the reason the world ended,” Shaunie responds, “People are the reason we are stuck in this fucked up ass digital existence. People did that.”

“Technology did it.”

Shaunie turns around and shrugs, “People built technology. So no. I have no faith in people. I don't fucking...”

“Shaunie...”

“What?”

“Shut up. Something is happening out there.”

My heart is racing. I can hear arguing.

I pull my bow out at that moment. Shaunie turns to me. He's on full alert. We run outside at that moment just in time to see that my best friend Noah has been completely surrounded. All around us are these men in white. The look on their faces say it all.

Moderators!

Noah turns back to me. His eyes are blood shot red. He has his daggers out. I've never seen Noah look so afraid in his life. We're completely surrounded. There has to be at least 2 dozen of the moderators.

“How could they have found us?” I find myself asking Shaunie.

“Run,” Shaunie says.

“I'm not leaving you,” I reply to my brother.

My brother is looking at me and then at Noah. A part of me knows that all of us can't get away at this moment. Noah's bloodshot eyes are still staring at me. He isn't saying anything but I know he is thinking it. He wants me to run.

“Noah...don't...” I start out.

It's useless. Within a matter of seconds Noah does an attack and he's fighting these moderators all at once. I've never seen someone so quick on their feet. For someone who once was a cripple he is comfortable as fuck on his feet. I watch in amazement as he takes a few down with relative ease. He cuts through a man with his double daggers with this extreme impatience.

That's when I swear the moderator he just stabbed would die. The moderator doesn't die though. The moderator comes back to life as soon as he hits the floor. He quickly grabs Noah. Noah attempts to kick the guy off him but two or three moderators jump on Noah at that moment. They quickly wrestle my best friend to the ground.

I'm frantic, shooting arrows as fast as I can. There's no point. My heart is racing. The sweat drips down my palms as I pull at the bow. I release. I get one off of Noah. I shoot again but miss. I ease my breath. I have to calm down. I have to focus.

I have my bow out and I shoot at the moderators as fast as I can. As soon as some go down they get right back up. It's almost like....

It's almost like they can't die.

“Run!” Noah is screaming.

“FIREBALL!” my brother screams out from behind me.

I'm distracted as a fireball rains from the sky. Mage magic is still something that I'm not used to. It's a powerful spell that my brother, the black mage, is able to do. The moderators at first seem like they are damaged by it but the men in white don't seem to care at all when they shake it off. One of them charges at Shaunie, grappling him and pulling him to the ground.

I run after Shaunie and kick the guy off my brother as hard as I can. The moderator is so solid that his fucking side seems to hurt my foot more than anything.

Still, I got him off Shaunie.

I shoot at him. My quiver regenerates as the arrows fly from my wrists. No matter how many arrows I shoot at this guy he shakes them off.

“Let's go,” Shaunie says.

“Noah.”

“It's too late for Noah,” my brother tells me.

I look back. He has a point. Noah has already been retained. He's already being dragged away. The other moderators are walking towards us. They have this inhuman look in their eyes. They start making their way to me. My brother grabs my hand and together we head down the alley as fast as we can.

My heart is racing.

“Noah...”

“How'd they find us?” Shaunie asks me.

I shake my head. I don't know. We'd been so careful. This was our first time in town in forever and we'd made sure to scout the town to make sure that there were no moderators. My entire guild was back at the guild house. We had no help.

We were out here alone.

This was just supposed to be a regular trip.

“They're close...” I tell Shaunie, “This way.”

Shaunie looks back at the same time I do. As a black mage he has this staff in his hand. Regardless of how powerful I think Shaunie is right now it doesn't matter. These moderators are more powerful than anything I've ever faced. Not even my celestial bow is able to keep them down.

We are running down an alley.

“Do you think we lost them?” Shaunie asks me.

The sun is going down in the sky. It's getting reddish already. I look back. We've been running for almost 5 minutes by the time we get to the dark alley. There are no other players around us that I can see. The alley looks a little bit abandoned.

I'm breathing heavy. I clutch to my bow like a bible. I'm sweating so much that my bow is covered in moisture.

It was quiet. It was eerily too quiet.

“How long did you think you can run from us?” a voice says.

Shaunie and I turn back to back. We are in this dark alley. I have no idea where the voice is coming from. Shaunie has his staff in his hand. I have my bow and arrow in my hand. If this was the day that I was going to die I planned on at least giving them a little bit of a fight.

“Who is that?” I ask.

“It's him,” Shaunie answers me.

“Who?”

“Don't stick around to find out,” Shaunie tells me.

I want to run but my feet don't move. Maybe I don't want to leave Shaunie. I'm not sure what it is.

My heart has never beat so heavy.

My sweat glands have never worked so hard.

“Run, little bro,” Shaunie is telling me, “Run.”

Shaunie gives me a push so hard that I almost lose my balance. I take off, listening to him. I hear a scream from behind my back. I'm not sure how Shaunie goes down. I know it happens though. I've never heard my brother scream in so much pain before.

Tears start rolling down my eyes. I can't control them.

Run. Is that all we are good for now? Running?

As I run I realize it's going to a dead end. The buildings are too high for me to get over it. I'm completely cornered.

I swear I feel a heaviness all over my body. It's almost like my body caves in on itself. At first I think it's adrenaline. Maybe I'm stressed and a little scared.

No.

It's something else.

“Killian right?”

Noah was gone. My brother was gone. I was alone in this alley and my body felt so heavy. I found myself sinking to the ground. How did this man have so much power? How could I fight something so powerful.

“What are you doing to me?” I ask.

My knees lock. They give in. I'm on the ground. It's almost as though gravity has taken over my body.

“It's pointless resisting,” the voice fills my head, “It's pointless trying to escape. In the old world you could run from God. In the old world God was imperfect. So I hacked into the world. I overwrote God's programming. I am God now. I am your maker.”

His voice is so deep and so powerful that at the moment I swear I believe it. I believe in this sick world this man was some all powerful being. Here I am, nothing more than a sinner compared to him. What's a sinner to a God?

I am flat against the ground in no time. No one is touching me. My entire body is resisting itself.

He appears at that moment as though out of thin air.

Manolo.

It's almost like he's a God. Maybe that's what happened to this world. I'm standing here looking at this thin, frail looking geek and recognizing that he's the most powerful thing in the world. And regardless of how frail and weak he looks I know that I'm nothing compared to him.

That's when I realize the moderators coming behind me. They are carrying both Noah and Shaunie with them.

“You're Killian right? The hacker's champion,” Manolo asks me.

The moderators are surrounding me. I can't fight them when they pick me off the floor. Noah and Shaunie both seem to have the same thing happening to them as I am. Our bodies seem almost to have rebelled against us. What kind of programming is this?

How could Manolo do this?

“Fuck you,” I respond.

Manolo smiles. It's this cold, hateful and menacing smile, “I am your God, Killian.”

I spit at him. The spit wad doesn't even make it to him. One of the moderators jumps forward and stops it before it gets to him. It's almost like they worship him. They'd rather even be spit on then him.

I can't help myself, “You're a fucking nerd programmer.”

I know I'm being resistant. I know I'm being rude. I don't give a fuck. This man stole our lives. He stole our futures. If this was the real world he did this to the real world. And right now I can see Manolo's anger. I can see how sick he looks. He's a cocky looking nerd. He probably was no one in real life. He probably was nothing.

“You must repent,” he responds.

He's dead serious. This man has lost his mind. Isn't he supposed to be some next level genius? This guy really thought he was God or something. He really believed that. I am a little bothered by it. My face switches up at that moment.

“What?”

“You must repent,” he responds, “Choose one of these people to live and one of them to die.”

Holy shit.

My heart is racing. No. This wasn't happening.

“What?” I respond.

I can't understand it.

“Choose one or I'll choose for you,” he explains.

Just at that moment I watch as one of these guys hands Manolo a dagger. It's one of Noah's daggers. Noah and Shaunie's eyes are bugging right now. They get so wide once they realize what Manolo is asking me to do. Manolo is asking me to choose between my brother and my best friend. I'm shocked. I'm a little scared. I'm a little bothered. I attempt to retain my level of confidence. I can't let my enemy know he's getting to me.

“I can't choose.”

Noah is crying. Shaunie is breathing heavy. I can't believe this is happening. I can't even fight! I can't even help the two people that probably matter the most to me in this world.

“Fine. I'll kill them both,” Manolo says.

And I believe him. I believe Manolo is crazy enough to kill them both! My mouth drops open. My heart is racing. My mind has gone blank. Then I feel myself just scream it out loud.

“KILL SHAUNIE!” I scream out.

I don't know what I'm thinking. I love my brother. I really do love him. It's just that...I'd become used to the idea of him being dead. I just couldn't lose Noah. Noah was my backbone. Noah was the only one that I could really talk to and listen to.

Shaunie's mouth gets wide open. He's shocked.

“Fine,” Manolo says.

He walks over to Shaunie. I look away. I'm crying. I can't believe that I just told Manolo to save Noah instead of Shaunie. I can't believe I chose.

And just when I look away I hear a crying of someone being stabbed. I hear the slow, dark death. My eyes reluctantly turn back to Shaunie.

Only my brother is STILL alive!

Instead of killing my brother like I asked, Manolo has stabbed Noah. He drops Noah right after pushing the dagger into Noah's heart. Noah looks over at me. He mouths something. It's the softest thing I'd ever heard before.

He mouths, “Stay strong.”

Noah is dead before he hits the ground.

Manolo is expressionless like some game character when his slow, computerized voice says, “Thanks for playing.”

To read the next chapter go to www.crushedcrown.com