It took Robert six hours to realized he had respawned. He’d reawakened earlier, but it took six hours of lying, screaming and naked and eventually tied up so he couldn’t hurt himself in the chapel. He had shit himself. Not only shit himself, but apparently, he had rolled around in. His throat was worn raw and ragged from yelling obscenities.

And he didn’t feel like he was done. Just a little more, something in the back of his mind seemed to want to say. Just rant and curse just a little bit more. Let go. It feels so much better. Vaguely he remembered yelling about the secret Illuminati in the government who had kept the secrets of antigravity from the masses. Trudeau was a member of the Illuminati. Donald Trump was obviously a Templar, their enemies.

Thinking about it, Robert said. “What the hell?”

Neil got out of one of the pews and came over to him. “Robert, who am I.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re Neil. But something inside me wants to accuse you of being part of a secret society,” Robert said.

“So you’re saying I’m not a goddamn Illuminati?”

“I don’t know. I never really cared enough to ask you about your politics. Whatever floats your boat. Why am I tied up in the cathedral, and why am I covered in poo?”

“We had to. When you respawned, you went crazy. You were screaming and yelling. You took off your clothes and ran around alternately, trying to stab people and trying to cause them to float away. Then you started to masturbate. In front of everyone. Leslie decided to tie you up for your own safety, and because none of us wanted to see you wack off,” Neil said.

“Leslie made it?”

“Yeah, she took a bunch of people and hid in the cave near the lake.”

“Would you mind untying me?” Robert asked.

“I don’t know. Are you planning on beating off in front of everyone again?” Neil asked suspiciously.

“Wasn’t planning on it, but if someone gives me enough beer, makes it a dare, and finds me a pretty fluffer, I might consider it,” Robert said.

“Good enough for me,” Neil said shrugging.

Neil untied the extension cords. The knots weren’t really well done, and if he had been more aware, Robert probably could have undone the mess by himself.

Robert looked over momentarily at the six people who still stood there, staring off into space. They’d been like that since Knaxis had come. Sophia was dead, though. While Sophia’s main priority had been her sister, she had also fed and changed the other catatonic people.

It also bothered Robert that the room wasn’t healing their sanity, either. But that was a worry for another day.

“We’d have gone into your room to get you a change of clothes, but you’re room are burnt down. I’ll be honest Robert, the last fires went out a couple hours ago, but we are pretty screwed. There isn’t a whole lot left. The whole dorm is a total disaster, and barely anybody respawned.”

Robert got up. Ignoring his own nakedness, he asked, “Did we kill the invaders? What did you do with their bodies?”

“Yeah, you got them with your car. One of them still had a bit of life in him but died after I rolled over him a few times with my pickup. Their bodies disappeared, but we managed to strip all their armor and gear off of them before they turned into lights and energy. It’s all on a table in the cafeteria. Leslie and Andrea are keeping an eye on it. Everyone here agrees; you should have first dibs on the cloths. Nobody wants to see your weiner. Well, none of the girls will admit it, though personally, I think they all enjoy the view.”

“Thanks,” Robert got up. It was tough to stand, and a wave of vertigo passed through his brain, and he almost fell back down. Holding onto one of the pews for support, he pushed himself back onto his feet and then walked over to the Species stone.

Status Update: Title awarded — Human (Earth) Instance Boss Monster #1

New: 2246 xp points awarded

New: 14 Boss points awarded

New: Special Power added

New: Special Boss menu added to Status

“What the hell. I just got a blue screen saying that I’m a Boss Monster now.” Robert said, and then he waved the blue screen away.

Next, he checked his status screen. His Sanity score was a dismal 5/310 points. Under titles, he had Human Instance Boss Monster #1. There was also a new tab with for Boss Menu. Mentally he selected that tab.

INSTANCE Item Description Boss Points Banked Resurrect Resurrect 1 person with lost Soul Stone Varies 0 Block Resurrect Block 1 person from resurrecting Varies 0 Refresh Instance Restore Instance to previous save 7 0 Complete Regenerate from Save Restore Instance and complete respawn 10 0 Refresh barrier Restores instance barrier if it has been taken down 1 0 New Barrier Blocks entrance to Instance for 10 days 10 0 Set Barrier Privileges Allows Boss only Barrier openings, default off 1 0 Summon Returns 1 person to Species stone 1 0 Save Saves Instance 1 0 Reassign Reassign all past XP 3 0 Banish Removes one Non-Boss from Species Stone 10 0 Expel Expel all invaders from instance 15 0 Make Boss Make 1 person instance boss Varies 0 Move Instance Moves Instance down 1 level 25*Level 0 Create Cave Attaches new cave to instance Varies 0 STORE Item Description Boss Points Buy for Ore Stone Creates Natural Mineral Deposit Varies 0 Varies Mystical Ore Stone Creates Mystical Mineral Deposit Varies 0 Varies Sun Stone Provides Sunlight 1 0 0.25 Night Stone Provides Night 1 0 0.25 Sky Stone Provides Sun and Night rotation 2 0 0.5 Weather Stone Creates Specific Weather 1 0 0.25 Climate Stone Creates Specific Climate 1 0 0.25 Humidity Stone Creates Specific Humidity 1 0 0.25 Biome Stone Creates Seasonally varied conditions 5 0 1.25 Safe Zone Stone Creates a small Safe Zone 5 0 2.5 Natural Herb Seeds 10 Seeds Varies 0 Varies Mystical Herb Seeds 10 Seeds Varies 0 Varies Natural Animal 1 Animal Varies 0 Varies Mystical Animal 1 Animal Varies 0 Varies Natural Slave` 1 Natural Slave creature Varies 0 Varies Mystial Slave 1 Mystical Slave creature Varies 0 Varies Skilled Slave 1 Skilled Slave Creature Varies 0 Varies Books Common Fiction / Non Fiction / Poetry 1 0 0.25 Books Common Lore / Magic 2 0 0.5 Books Uncommon Fiction / Non Fiction / Poetry 3 0 0.75 Books Uncommon Lore / Magic 5 0 1.25 Books Rare Fiction / Non Fiction / Poetry varies 0 varies Books Rare Common Lore / Magic varies 0 varies Raw Materials Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Mithril, etc.… varies 0 varies Alchemical Solution Input affect varies 0 varies Species Stone Provides for multiple Species Stones 100 0 100 XP 500 XP 1 0 1 Reconstitute Living Creates a non dungeon living thing from a sample varies 0 varies Resurrection Glass Resurrects one dead being without Species Stone 5 0 1.25 Emergency Rations Essential Nutrients for 200 of Species 1 0 - Food Various varies 0 varies Fresh Water 200 Liters 1 0 - Salt Water 200 Liters 1 0 - Spices Various varies 0 varies Weapon Various varies 0 varies Enchanted Weapon Various varies 0 varies Armour Various varies 0 varies Enchanted Armour Various varies 0 varies Trade Good Various varies 0 varies

The list went on and on. Robert only noticed the first few items of both categories. Without even bothering to pause and consider, Robert put one point to reset the barrier to their caves and also spent another point to set the barrier privileges so that only Boss’s could dispel the wall of light.

After spending each point, a new blue screen popped up in front of him:

One Boss Point Banked in Refresh Barrier.

Cost to refresh Barrier one Boss Point.

Would you like to Refresh the Instance Barrier?

Yes / No

Then he put a single point into Refresh Instance and took a handoff the Species Stone. When he put his hand back, the score was still there. Robert concentrated removing the point out, and the number in the bank went back to zero, while his own count of Boss Points went back up to 12.

For a moment he considered putting the rest of the necessary point into refreshing the instance and respawning everyone, but then realized that could wait.

Instead, he turned around and walked out of the chapel with Neil who had been waiting impatiently while he consulted his stats.

“Come on Instant Boss Monster Man. Those of us left are waiting for your bossy britches in the cafeteria.”

“Dude, don’t say bossy britches, you sound like a chick,” Robert said as he walked down the steps and into the main dining area. Even in the cafeteria, there were traces of battle. All the windows were blown out, tables and chairs lay broken and burnt on the ground, the far wall was covered in soot, and the walls towards the kitchen and dorm were a shell of brick and rubble. The ceiling was black where the faux wood had gone up in flames. There were conspicuous blood stains and splatter on the floor and walls

Robert counted and saw that 28 faces were looking at him. Predominantly they were people who hadn’t used their gemstone and had hidden in the chapel.

“Hey,” he said.

“Robert,” Leslie said. While Andrea came over and kissed him.

Most of the faces in the crowd were terrified. They looked ready to bolt for the security of the chapel at any time. It must have been hard, Robert thought, hiding, unable to do anything while all the death and chaos was going on around them.

“I have some good news, and I have some good news,” Robert announced to the crowd.

“You can get us home? You found clothes to put on?” people in the crowd asked.

“Seriously, after all this my being naked is what worries you? Anyway not as good as going home.” Robert said. “No, what I did was close the instance that Huang’s group opened. Nobody new can attack us for a while. I’m not saying that there isn’t someone or something already in our caves that Huang let in. Just that if they weren’t in it as of five minutes ago, they aren’t getting in anytime soon.”

The crowd didn’t look relieved to hear that. Some people whispered, “Already in and looked troubled.”

Looking over at a pile of weapons, gear and armor on one of the few remaining tables, Robert said, “Is that the stuff you found on those assholes?”

“Yeah. Neil made us gather it up.”

“We need to find the gemstones they were cutting out of our friends,” Robert said.

“Why? So you can use them to power level yourself. We all know you scammed 3 gemstones at the start.” Asked Brent, who was carrying a backpack.

“Brent, you survived,” Robert said.

“He stayed with us when we hid near the lake,” Andrea said.

Robert nodded. “I’m pretty sure that we use the gems that they cut out of our friends to respawn them.”

Leslie nodded and said, “There were a couple of bags full of them on the table. We took them off the things that attacked us.”

Neil went over and looked at the table. “They aren’t here anymore. Does anyone know where the gemstones are?”

Everyone looked around, and nobody seemed to know anything. Finally, Brent said, “Sorry, but I’ve got to pee. And started heading for the exit to the cafeteria.

“Brent was hanging around the table with all the stuff a lot,” Andrea said.

“Brent, stay where you are,” Robert said.

“Fuck you, Robert. And fuck you everyone else. I could have died out there. Did you see how dangerous it was? I’m not taking part in your let’s blame Brent fest. I’m leaving.”

“Brent don’t you take one more step, and put down that backpack.”

“Fuck you. Fuck all of you. Why don’t you mind your own business? I’m leaving.”

Neil stepped in front of the door that Brent was trying to leave from. “Forgive me if I misjudged you.” With that, Neil swung his fist and decked Brent. Brent tried to get up, and Neil kicked him in the face. “Stay down asshat.”

Robert came over and bent down to remove Brent’s backpack. He opened it up and saw six bags full of gemstones. Some coins in various metals and a dagger that was shining a brilliant white light.

“I’m just surprised he didn’t hide these earlier,” Robert said.

“People have been pretty edgy about the stuff on the table,” Leslie said. “A lot of people were watching that gear like it could explode at any moment. It’s kind of surprising he managed to steal the stuff in the first place.”

“What should I do with this guy?” Neil asked.

“Pat him down to see if he has any more gemstones. If he doesn’t let him go. If he does, I’ll kill him and cut his stone out myself, so he doesn’t respawn.” Robert said.

“Now wait a second. The experience crystals I got on me I got fair and square.” Brent said, trying to get up. Neil kicked him in the gut twice more, and once in the face for good measure.

Leslie went through his pockets and pulled out six more red gemstones like the ones the Knaxis the squid monster gave them. “Those are mine,” Brent yelled, and Neil kicked him again.

“Are you really going to kill him?” Leslie said. “It doesn’t feel right, killing one of our own.”

Robert thought about it for a second. “Strip him. He’s a bit bigger than me, and I could use his clothes. If we can revive Huang, Brent can be his problem.” Robert said.

They left Brent tied up with extension cord and crying in his tighty-whities. A bunch of people stayed in the cafeteria, and Robert asked them if they wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on the adventurer’s gear to stop further looting.

Robert, Leslie, Neil, Andrea, and Dan plus a couple of others followed Robert up to the chapel hoping that he could bring their friends back.

“There might be a way to fix the buildings,” Robert said as he climbed the stairs.

“How?” Demanded Leslie.

“When I checked my status after I respawned, I was told that I had become a floor boss. I also had something called Boss Points that I could spend on a bunch of stuff. I spent two closings off our cave. But there was an option to respawn the buildings to a previous save for a bunch of points.”

“Then, why didn’t you?” Leslie demanded.

“Two reasons. There is also an option to respawn someone if we’ve lost their soul stone.” Robert shook Brent’s backpack. “I’m hoping that these are all our friends and that it doesn’t cost anything to bring them back. The second reason is that I thought it would freak people out if buildings started growing again and nobody knew why. Plus I wanted to check out the situation first.”

Leslie nodded.

“Anyway, we’re here. It said I was Boss number 1. Presumably, there are other Bosses. Why don’t all of you touch the stone to see if you get a message.”

They all touched it, and nobody got a blue screen until Dan stepped up. “It says I have… let me read it.

Status Update: Title awarded — Human (Earth) Instance Boss Monster #3

New: 1249 xp points awarded

New: 7 Boss points awarded

New: Special Power added

New: Special Boss menu added to Status

“Number 3… Hmmm, implying there is a number 2. Dan, you and I kill the most of those bastards. Neil said he mopped up, but nothing happened when he touched the stone. I wonder who number 2 is. Probably Huang.” Robert said.

Robert pulled out a gemstone. It was a small green stone. He touched it to the glowing rock in the center of the chapel. “It says this gem is worth 53 xp. I am choosing not to use it.” Then Robert put the gemstone down.

He pulled another stone out of the bag. The gemstone was a dark bitter red stone. He pressed it to the species stone.

Use Experience Value: 531

Yes / No

Use to Respawn Human (Earth)

Yes / No

Robert selected “Yes” under the Respawn menu, and colored lights appeared in front of him which eventually morphed into Jamie, a first-year he barely knew. Most of her clothes were burnt away.

“Welcome back,” Robert said.

“I died? Are they still attacking? The last thing I remember was that my room was on fire. I jumped out of the window, and they were waiting for me.” Jamie said. She didn’t seem to notice that she was standing in front of everyone, almost naked.

“Jamie, would you mind touching the Stone again. I want to try something.”

Jamie shrugged and touched the stone again.

“A blue screen appeared and is asking me if I want to respawn my gear. It costs 21 xp. And that I only have 5 of 21 experience needed. What is it talking about.”

“Look at your clothes,” Leslie said.

“Oh.” She tried to cover herself and blushed. “I’ll be in my room.” And Jamie tried to run out the door.

“Pretty sure your room got burned down. Here, use this.” Robert handed her the 53 xp gem they had tried just a second ago.

Jamie touched the gem to the stone, and a moment later, she was wearing a pair of black jeans and a sweater. She left after feeling the stone again at Roberts urging, and nothing memorable happened.

They slowly made their way through the pile of crystals. They made a pile of experience gems, sorted out the high-value experience from the low-value experience, respawned any soul gems, and had them check to see if they were the second boss.

Most human gems were worth between 450 to 800 experience points. There were a handful of generic stones in that range. Robert sorted these into a third pile. Twice, a stone allowed Robert the option of summoning non-human sentient from these high-value stones in exchange for Boss Points. Robert sorted these stones into the fourth pile.

When Susan respawn, Robert thought for sure she would be a Boss, but she said she wasn’t. When they found Huang’s crystal, Robert had him check the stone thinking, how could he not be a Boss? And was surprised and disappointed all over again when they found Huang wasn’t.

“That fuck, Brent. You know he opened the gate.” Huang said.

“You deal with him. While I’ll support you if you decide to cut his soul stone out to keep him from respawning, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. We should come up with a set of laws or rules for extreme cases. Though if death isn’t permanent, I’m not sure how we should treat murder.”

It was only when Claudia respawned, and Robert went through the mechanical steps of offering her an experienced crystal to refresh her clothing — she had a massive and bloody rip over her heart, her bra had been cut off, and her boobs were hanging out — that the small group hanging out in the Chapel found who the last Boss was.

Status Update: Title awarded — Human (Earth) Instance Boss Monster #2

New: 852 xp points awarded

New: 5 Boss points awarded

New: Bonus Given to Diplomacy Skill

New: Bonus Given to Quatrill Language Spoken

New: Bonus Given to Quatrill Language Written

New: Special Boss menu added to Status

"I died," Claudia said.

"Yup," Robert said.

"I fucked up," Claudia said. “I shouldn’t have tried to talk.”

“You didn’t fuck up. Not really. At least I don't think so, and whatever this system is, it doesn't think so either. We needed to try diplomacy first. We will need to try diplomacy again. We might have to figure out a way that you don't die so often. Maybe invest in a safe zone. But dying might be something you have to just get used too."

"How can you be so banal about dying."

"I've died a bunch of times. Twice today. Neil killed me yesterday. It is painful, but you get used to it. For all I know, there might be a place to change the pain setting. Don't tell anyone I said this, but if the assholes who invaded us are any indication, we'll probably all have to get used to it eventually. You more than anyone. You're a Boss now."

"What does that mean? I don't know what any of this means," asked Claudia

"Look at your stats. I suspect they've changed.

Claudia touched the species stone and opened up her stats, "My diplomacy skill went up to 30 points, so did my Quatrill language skills."

"Do me a favor and look at your boss menu and tell me what you see written there."

Robert could see Claudia’s pupils as they flitted back and forth, reading the invisible text in front of her. “What does all of this mean?”

“Put a point into ‘Safe Zone,’” Robert said.

“Why? Oh, what the hell, I’ll be one of your guinea pigs Robert. What the damned hell. Okay, I did. It says I have one point banked. What does that mean?”

Robert held his hand up to forestall questions. He touched the Species Stone and brought up his own Boss Menu. There was one point listed under 'Banked' for ‘Safe Zone.’ Robert tried to withdraw the point, and he couldn’t take it out. It looked like the person who put the point in was the only one who could take it back out.

“Just checking some stuff out.” He told Claudia. “Wanna stick around as we finish off summoning the rest of our friends and classmates? Or do you want to go out to talk with the rest of the people out there?”

“Any advantage of sticking around?” Claudia asked.

“Probably not. Though we haven’t brought back Darlene yet and you seem to get along with her. She was skinned alive by the way. Hopefully, she was dead when they started. I should get someone to hide the fur we captured.”

“Not thinking of tanning it and making a coat,” Neil asked.

“Neil, that’s in incredibly bad taste.” Robert turned to him, angrily.

Neil shrugged, “It’s not like we have that much stuff left. We have to use the resources we have.”

“That gives me an idea,” Robert said. “Would someone be willing to go and get the Darlene fur? I think I know a way to get rid of it.”

Leslie grimaced and walked out of the chapel while Robert began to sort through the gemstones again. He was in the process of bringing someone back when Leslie returned carrying the fur. Her face looked revolted, and Robert could understand why.

The adventurers had peeled all the fur off. That included the tail, the legs, and arms, but the most gruesome part was Darlene’s still entire furry face. Her eyes were missing, but the rest of it was still there.

Most of the blood on the back had congealed, and for this one thing, Robert was glad. The fur stunk of death, though.

Taking it in his hands, Robert pressed Darlene’s skin to the Species stone. He opened up the Boss Menu and clicked sell.

Human: Variant — Fur

Value 1.37 boss points.

Sell (Yes / No)

Robert clicked, Yes, and the fur disappeared. “We shall never speak of this again.” He said. “If he asks, we destroyed it.”

“What did you do?” Neil asked, shocked.

“Destroyed it,” Robert repeated firmly.

“But what did you do?” Neil asked again.

“I destroyed it.” Robert said again, “And that’s all I will say.”

Finally, the last person was brought back. There were faces that Robert knew were missing. Fiorello was gone. So was Sophia. Neither of them had become part of the dungeon. He would have to ask around, maybe others were killed who couldn’t be brought back.

Just to be sure, Robert opened the Boss Menu and selected “Resurrect.” Two names were listed. He knew both of them vaguely. Brent had probably managed to hide their gemstones before they’d searched him, so Robert spent two Boss Points bringing them back.

The group waited for the last two to appear in front of them and then as a group, they walked down to the cafeteria. Leslie took charge of looking after the leftover Experience Gems, which was fine by Robert.

Down in the cafeteria, the mood was subdued. Most of the people who’d died were sitting down, some on the floor, some on the grass. Lars that asshole was out playing hockey again. That bothered Robert, but he let it drop.

Instead, Robert addressed the group. “Is this everyone?”

“Pretty much. Lars is out playing hockey with himself, and I think Amy went off with the other Leslie somewhere to pee, but that’s about it.” April said, clutching at her boyfriend, John. “Amy and Leslie should be nearby, though. Everyone is too scared to go much further than the Cafeteria.”

Robert nodded, “I’ve got something to say. But we can wait for people to come back. Someone might as well go and get Lars.”

Amy and the other Leslie showed up. Susan got Lars. Soon everyone was standing in the ruins of the Cafeteria.

“Well, I’m not going to lie to you. That completely sucked ass. We were slaughtered. Dying hurts like fuck. I should know I’ve died three times already. And I expect I will die again.”

Their group started talking among themselves when Robert said this. So he held up a hand for quiet.

“I’ve closed the gate to our home, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t come through again. This instance opens in two weeks, less a bit. And when it opens, anybody who wants to go into our cave can and will. If we aren’t ready for them, we will die again.

“I know up until now, all of this has seemed unreal. And we’ve all had a lot of fun testing out our powers, playing games, socializing. We can still do that. I’m not saying we shouldn’t. But we have to balance that with thinking about our safety. We can’t be caught unaware again. Let me repeat that, we can’t be caught unaware again, because like it or not ass holes just as bad as the ones who came through earlier will come here again.”

“What can we do. Our home is destroyed. We don’t have any food. We barely have the clothes on our backs. Robert stops trying to be a boss and just admit that we are dead men and women walking.” Lars said. Then he said, “Fuck this, I’m going back to playing hockey. Don’t bother to respawn me if I die again.”

Before Lars could leave, Robert said, “I can bring back our home and our stuff.” Lars stopped and turned around.

“While we have so much magic among us that we shouldn’t really need our residence. The truth is I’m pretty sure can restore it just like it once was. I can bring back everyone's' clothes and furniture. I think. We can start over. We can do everything better this time. We can build walls and traps and chokepoints. We can plant crops to keep us fed, and we can restore the electricity so we can all get back on our computers. We can make weapons and armor to protect us. And we can catch and kill slimes so that we can use the experience to grow stronger.

Robert spent a few seconds catching the eyes of the people in the crowd.

“We can make it so that the next group of violently deranged assholes who come through here don’t find a bunch of disorganized sitting ducks but find an unbreachable fortress of deranged human ex-students who want to kill the fuck out of them instead.”

“I know this sucks. Trust me, I do. I would rather be back in Ontario studying for my Combinatorics class and writing that machine learning algorithm I’d planned to use as for my honors project. But I can’t. None of us can go back. Our only choice is to stand tall and strong and make sure we aren’t victims again.”

“I’m gonna go rebuild our home. Think about it. Take today off and rest. Tomorrow, let’s start rebuilding this place.” Robert said, and before anyone could cheer, or jeer, or ask questions, he walked back upstairs to the chapel.

Without pausing, Robert touched the Species Stone. He brought up his Boss Menu and spent 7 points on Refresh Instance. The world went black, and when it reappeared it as if nothing had been destroyed. Looking out of the door of the chapel, all of the burnt areas were remade, all of the toppled walls were restored. And he was filled with relief since he didn’t really know if that would work or not.

He could spend his experience tomorrow. Right now, he was tired. Not bother to even look at the six waiting catatonic figures still sitting motionless in their pew, Robert left the chapel.

Once in the Cafeteria, he saw Andrea and said, “Andrea, come with me.”

She followed behind him, “What’s up Robert.”

But Robert didn’t say anything; instead, he walked up to his bedroom. Unlocking his door with the key which had been restored around his neck with the complete restoration of the instance, he walked into his room. Andrea followed.

“Should I be worried,” Andrea said.

Robert still didn’t say anything. Instead, he kissed her. On her mouth, on her face. Then he ripped open her blouse and pulled down her bra.

“Robert!” She said.

Still saying nothing, he slapped her face. Not a firm slap, nothing forceful, more a playful tap. And she sucked on the tips of his fingers and said “daddy.” But he wanted to let her know he didn’t want to hear her voice. Then he turned her around, and pushed her to the ground, to her knees. Then he forced the rest of her onto his bed. Reaching around, he undid the top of her pants and pushed her jeans and panties down.

He gave her a much stronger slap on the ass before undoing his pants. There was some lube in his top drawer which he applied, then slapping her ass once more, he slid inside of her. Thrusting violently. Once. Twice.

“Robert. Stop. No. Robert.” Andrea said.

Robert pulled out. “What?”

“I don’t mind rough. I like it actually. But not in the ass. Not today. I’m scared, and I want to be hugged.” Andrea said.

Robert thought about it. He really wanted to destroy her. He was filled with rage at their hopelessness, and anger at being trapped. But he could see her point of view. So he pulled away and walked over to the bed and sat on top. Motioning to her, he pushed aside the blankets and sheets and said, “Join me?”