The moon seemed almost unnaturally close to Earth from where I stood, its strong white glow flooding the field around me as I tried to bathe in its majesty with the reverence it deserved and buckle my belt at the same time.

It wouldn’t be full for at least a few more days, making the job we were on all the more strange, but that didn’t stop it from punching through the clouds so powerfully that I was honestly having a hard time looking at it.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Millicent, one of my companions, asked after joining me at my side, “Makes you think.”

“Does a bit, doesn’t it?” I sighed with a smile after finally buckling my belt and accepting the AR-15 Millie was offering me, “All good?”

“Better than good,” Millie said, using her thumb to wipe the corner of her ruby red lips onto her playfully waiting tongue, “you?”

“Oh yeah,” I scoffed with a smirk as I took a moment to take her all in, “I’m good.”

We’d been together for a few weeks at that point, but I still hadn’t quite gotten used to her mesmerizing beauty.

Her blue eyes were almost as pale as her alabaster skin, her black hair long and flowing, and her body was, for a lack of a better descriptor, the human equivalent of a jaguar’s, a fact that was obvious even through her stab vest and black biker jacket.

“At first I thought you might be tricking us with the whole ‘sex makes you sharper’ thing,” Millie said, checking her AR’s mag while I did the same, “but I have to say, there’s definitely something to be said for getting the sexual tension out of the way before the hunt.”

“I’m offended,” I jokingly gasped, “why would I, the just and heroic Alistair Gray, need to trick you into bed?”

“Well, back of your van,” Millie corrected as we both returned to looking up at the moon, “but fair point.”

“Our van,” I replied, bumping Millie with my shoulder, “and her name is ‘Monster Mash’.”

“Monster Mash still isn’t a bed though,” Millie said, smirking and revealing her fangs, “and you’ll never be able to convince me otherwise.”

“You’re too picky.” I lightheartedly scoffed, waving her off as I turned to look at our black 1986 GMC Vandura, her sliding door all the way open showing that Elizabeth, my other companion, was still sitting, furiously scrubbing away at the thigh of her tight-fitting jeans with a towel.

Where Millie was the archetypal gothic vampire with her black wardrobe and almost over-the-top sexuality, Elizabeth had retained a good deal of her human side.

Of course, her large breasts and wide hips played into that a fair bit, her ‘thiccness’, as she liked to put it, making it impossible for her to pull off the tall, dark, and mysterious look, not to mention her untamed thicket of rich red hair and strong Scottish accent.

“You like Monster Mash don’t you, Liz?” I asked hopefully as she lifted away the towel, examined the spot for a second, then started scrubbing again.

“I’d like her even better if there was room for my clothes that wasn’t directly under us,” Liz grumbled, still scrubbing away, “I’m going to have to wash these when we get home.”

“You weren’t going to do that anyway?” I asked as I walked towards her, my AR resting in the crook of my arm.

“Yeah, but now I’m going to have to get in there with a toothbrush,” Liz replied before throwing the towel aside, sitting back, and letting out an irritated groan, her tight green t-shirt threatening to tear right up the middle with the strain her chest put on it, “can we just come back later?”

“Um…” I trailed off, looking back to the equally amusedly confused Millie, “No. C’mon, it’s not that bad.”

“Of course you think that,” Liz scoffed, nodding at my pants, “you haven’t got spunk drying into your jeans.”

“That’s fair,” I agreed, “but we need to get this done.”

Liz screwed her face up irritatedly at that for a few seconds before loosening up, sighing, and rolling her eyes, “Alright, fine,” she said before picking up her stab vest with her finger, “but I’m not wearing this stupid thing.”

“Just put it on,” Millie pleaded, “for me?”

Liz went to argue, then grumbled something unintelligible and started pulling it over her head.

There was a part of me that was a little jealous of Millie’s ability to get Liz to do what she wanted by simply batting her eyes, although I can’t say I blamed them for having a better rapport.

While Millie and I had hit it off pretty much straight away, Liz took a little longer to warm up to the idea of sharing her girlfriend.

It was an awkward three days to say the least, but I can confidently say that the wait was well worth it when that particular dam burst.

“See?” Liz groaned, “This thing crushes my tits into my lungs.”

“You say the same thing about seatbelts.” Millie pointed out as I decided to discreetly excuse myself from the situation and do a quick stat check on my gun.

“Well, I’m not wrong, am I?” Liz scoffed while I looked for and finally found the little holographic tab near the charging handle, pulling it out to reveal the full screen once I did.

Rifle

AR-15

A versatile rifle of US origin.

WARNING!

USER

MODIFIED

Handling

6/10

Damage

8/10

Fire Mode

Semi-Auto

Ammunition

Silver .50 Beowulf

“It’s better than having your heart ripped out, isn’t it?” Millie pointed out as Liz finally grabbed her chrome pump action and hopped out of the van.

“I suppose…” Liz grumbled on her way over to us as we turned and started towards the barn, “but I haven’t been stabbed yet, have I?”

“That logic’s up there with ‘Don’t worry, it’s not loaded’.” I lightheartedly jabbed.

“And we’d all still have Brandon Lee if we were more careful.” Millie said matter-of-factly as we reached the barn’s huge sliding door, “Any idea why they haven’t come out at us yet?”

“Nope…” I trailed off, having gotten used to baiting Werewolves by simply having Millie and Liz nearby, “Could be that they’re higher level? Bit smarter?”

“I don’t think so,” Liz muttered, clicking her tongue, “to hear the farmhand talk about it, these growlers have to be pretty damn fresh.”

“True,” Millie agreed concernedly, “very true…”

“Alright,” I said with a nod, grabbing the door’s large metal handle, “let’s do this thing, you ready?”

“Always.” Millie replied with a smile.

“As I’ll ever be,” Liz added, shouldering her shotgun, “Let’s try not to get thrown around this time, eh?”

“I got thrown once,” I scoffed, “and she was at least level fifty.”

“Mmhm, sure.” Liz said, shooting me a wink as she did.

I’d come to appreciate our little ritual before rolling into the arena, Millie and I making sure we were good to go, Liz dropping some lovingly scathing remark.

It had proven to be effective at lifting the mood after the first few times, though in the beginning I was left half-worrying that I’d somehow upset Liz and, as a result, getting thrown around by angry Werewolves.

“It’s stuck.” I grunted, giving the handle another good pull.

“How stuck?” Millie asked.

“Stuck stuck,” I replied after letting go of the handle and putting my hand on my hip, “like it’s… I don’t know, like it’s locked from the inside.”

“So that throws out the feral theory…” Liz muttered as I made room for her to get to the door.

“Could they have done it before they turned?” Millie suggested, “You know, so they wouldn’t hurt anyone?”

“You heard the farmhand,” I replied, watching as Liz used all her strength to pull at the door, “they’ve already been out tonight, dragged a sheep in there.”

Millie went to make another suggestion but was cut short as the door finally gave way under Liz’s immense strength, the latch or whatever it was that had been holding it shut falling to pieces and clattering to the ground as she gave the handle a good yank and let it fly open.

The unmistakable stench of rot ripped out of the barn, damn near flooring us as it tore skyward.

“Goddamn…” I gasped, keeping my forearm pressed to my mouth and nose, “Get us a light in there, would you?”

Millie let her rifle sling around her shoulder as she braved the stench and pulled a road flare from her back pocket, before clumsily going through the process of cracking the striker off and lighting it.

“Fuck me,” Liz coughed, wiping the tears from her eyes as Millie tossed the flare towards the middle of the barn, “what the fuck is that?”

“Not Werewolves, that’s for sure…” I trailed off as I looked at the pile of rotting meat that the flare had landed on, the smell having dissipated enough for us to uncover our faces, “I know this one…”

“Up there.” Liz said, jutting her chin towards the barn’s landing as a creature which certainly resembled a sickly Werewolf came down to hang from one of its spindly arms.

“Rougarou,” I practically blurted out, “that’s a Rougarou.”

“Shit,” Liz cursed, “these are useless then.”

“And expensive…” I muttered, remembering just how much each one of my rifle’s rounds cost as the first Rougarou dropped and another three made their way down the walls and leapt from the opposite landing, “Alright, Millie?”

“I shall fetch ze flammenwerfer.” Millie replied before darting away.

“Danke, mein leibe.” I chuckled humorlessly as the Rougarous drew nearer, snapping their gnarled maws at us, their flesh dripping with both the blood of their most recent kill and the holes in their rotted flesh.

“They’re going to charge,” Liz pointed out as we took a few tentative steps back, “you know that, right?”

“So shoot them then.” I replied.

“Do you know how much these slugs cost?” Liz scoffed.

“Do you know how much these bullets cost?” I retorted.

Before we could start about whose money was worth more, the first of the Rougarous took a run at us, forcing me to pull the trigger and, through sheer luck, take out its left leg.

Knowing that putting another round in it for good measure would’ve simply been a waste, I set my sights on the next nearest monster and fired, splattering the meat pile behind it with blood and fragments of the creature’s hip bone.

Surrendering to the fact that we’d die if she didn’t act, Liz sent a cannonball of silver at the Rougarou that I hadn’t lined up, the slug practically ripping the beast’s head off while I winged the fourth and final monster.

The first had already recovered by that point though, and I was forced to squeeze off another round that punched a neat hole through its abdomen.

Truth be told, I was starting to worry that we were done for, that there’d been another Rougarou waiting by Monster Mash and Millie wasn’t coming back.

That worry disappeared almost as soon as it arrived though, the threatening hiss coming from just behind us encouraging Liz and I to get out of the way as the absolute dragon that was Millie’s M9 flamethrower roared to life, belching its cleansing fire into the barn.

Even ten feet away from the stream of flame I still felt the need to take a few more steps back, the flamethrower’s bear-like roar deafening me to the rest of the night while its heat did its best to eat through my clothing.

I could barely even hear my own breathing, let alone the wretched cries of the frying Rougarous, but as the beasts finally began to fall my ears rang with the cheerful little ‘bing’s that signaled a fallen enemy followed closely by three ‘ASSIST +300’s popping up in the upper right-hand corner of my vision in small, opaque white text.

“Well,” I said, looking into the barn, Millie’s flamethrower having spewed fire up the back wall and ignited the hay strewn across the floor, “I’m going to take a stab in the dark and say we aren’t going to get paid.”

“Eh,” Millie replied with a shrug, “XP’s always good. Sorry I took so long, strap got caught on the door.”

“We’re alive, aren’t we?” I chuckled, still waiting for the quest to hurry up and finish, “That’s about all that matters to me.”

Liz went to add something but was cut short as a cheerful fanfare swelled and a golden congratulatory ‘QUEST COMPLETED! +5000’ appeared above the roasting Rougarous and their pile of rotted flesh, before becoming swiftly smothered by an even bigger notification.

LEVEL UP!

PRESTIGE AVAILABLE!

Please consult your L-UP! app to activate PRESTIGE I

“Did you prestige as well?” Liz asked excitedly, her voice hitting a pitch I hadn’t heard outside the bedroom.

“Yep,” I replied with a smile, letting my gun sling under my arm as I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, “have to say, even though we knew it was coming-”

“Right?” Millie blurted out, having unlocked her phone and opened the app before we’d even gotten our phones out of our pockets, before hesitating for a moment, “But… are we sure?”

“That we want to prestige?” I asked confusedly, “I’d say so, yeah. Why wouldn’t we?”

“I don’t know,” Millie sighed, “starting from scratch could be tough.”

“Remember how quickly we started leveling up once we got together?” I pointed out as comfortingly as I could, my eyes involuntarily darting to the welcoming ‘Would you like to enter PRESTIGE I now?’ on my phone, “We’ll be right back at the top before you know it, sweetlips, just got to keep taking jobs.”

Millie smiled at the pet name, she’d proven to be a bit of a sucker for them, but then again, so had I.

“Are you guys ready or what?” Liz asked, looking between the two of us with her forefinger hovering above the ‘Y’ on her phone.

“Ready.” Millie said with a confident nod, joining Liz and my finger hovering.

Truth be told, there was a part of me that had shared in Millie’s trepidation, and that wasn’t getting any better as we sat at the ready.

I’d only ever seen one person prestige, my father.

We were in the yard when it happened, I would’ve been twelve or so.

He became engulfed in golden light the moment he triggered it, hovered above the ground for a moment, before finally flashing in a brilliant explosion of light.

From there, he needed a day or two to get used to the sudden drop in stats, the fact that he was in his late fifties and drank beer instead of water and ate red meat almost exclusively apparently doing him no favors.

“Three.” I said, my voice more monotonous than I’d expected after my trip down memory lane.

“Two.” Millie continued, taking no mind of my thousand-yard stare.

“One.” Liz finished excitedly, triggering the domino effect of us each pushing our cheerful little ‘Y’s.

There was no subtle golden glow, no gentle levitation, in fact there was a good deal of nothing at all for a few seconds, leaving the three of us to share confused looks.

At first I assumed the initial prestige was less aggressive than, say, the fifth, but then an uncomfortable sensation wormed its way around my midsection.

Liz was the first to go, wrenched skyward while Millie and I looked around for some sort of monster.

Then Millie was ripped away, leaving me alone with the burning barn, waiting for the inevitable.

I was prepared, I thought, I knew what was coming and therefore would be able to hold my own.

What I was was gullible, stupid even, a fact I was blind to right up until the invisible tentacle tore me from the safety of dirt and into the sky.

Honestly, I don’t think I’d ever been more scared in my life, and I fought a mountain lion with a can of beans when I was fifteen.