Glancing back to make certain that Matthew was following her, Rebecca stomped down the hallway until she got to the vine-covered side entrance to the auditorium. Growling angrily, she began to furiously hack at the vines with the sword in her right hand while pulling and tugging on the shredded pieces and tossing them aside with her other.

“She’s a little moody,” Matthew whispered conspiratorially to Jen. “Don’t worry. You’ll be safe now.”

“I don’t feel safe now,” she whispered back softly. “What… What do you plan to do to me?”

“To you? Nothing really,” Matthew chuckled. “Except maybe squeeze, caress, and feel your breasts for a few hours later, until I get bored with them. I don’t think we’re going to end up keeping you or anything.”

Nodding slowly to herself, Jen trembled lightly and stood still where she was. “And how do you plan on keeping those things from getting me? You don’t even have a weapon that I see,” she observed timidly.

“It’s complicated.” Matthew shrugged slightly as he finally let go of her arm. “I doubt you’d believe me if I told you anyway.”

“Try me,” Jen whispered back, never taking her eyes off Rebecca as she furiously hacked at the thick foliage blocking the side door. “At this point, I’m almost willing to believe anything. Any idea of what’s going on – even a wrong one -- is more than what I know for certain at the moment.”

“Then let’s play a game,” Matthew laughed.

“A game?”

“Yeah. You ask me a question and I answer it truthfully, and then I ask you one and you have to answer it truthfully. Doesn’t matter what the question is, how embarrassing it is to answer, or anything else. Either you answer it truthfully, or else we end the game and that’s the end of getting any more information.”

“Any question at all, and you’ll answer it truthfully?” Jennifer asked.

“Yep,” Matthew nodded, smirking wildly. “And now it’s my turn…”

“Wait a moment, we hadn’t started yet,” Jennifer complained.

“Sure we have,” Matthew countered. “You asked a question and I answered it truthfully. Now it’s my turn.”

“Fine.” Crossing her arms around her bare chest, Jennifer half pouted as she waited on his question.

“Do you know Kristy Turman?” Matthew asked, popping the question.

“Yes. Do you know what’s going on around here?”

“Yep. Is she still alive?”

“I don’t know. Where’d those creatures come from?”

“The gods have decided it’s time to play a game for which of them gets to rule over the earth again. The gibberlings are just part of that game. Wasn’t Kristy in your PE class?”

“She was. How the hell do you know it’s just a game?”

“Unlike you guys who are just now getting to play the game, I got to be a beta tester. I’ve played it for over a year now. If Kristy was in your class, and you don’t know whether she’s alive or not, what happened to her?”

“She was outside with us, stretching at the track, and disappeared when something dark and shadowy ran out of the forest and grabbed her. She was one of the first to be taken. We thought it was a wild animal at first and ran to get help, and got trapped in here by those things. If you’ve played the game for a year, you must have some way to survive. Can you really keep me safe?”

“I can. Well….” Shrugging slightly, Matthew paused in the back and forth blitzing of questions to frown slightly. “I can in here,” he finally clarified, “but even I don’t know what all is out there in the world. I can’t even swear that I’m able to keep myself safe. The game limited our growth during the beta stage and now it’s unlocked the full game. I don’t know what all might have been added, how dangerous things could possibly get, or what I might run into in the future. I can’t promise that I could always keep you safe.” Slowly, he shrugged, indicating that was the best answer he could give. “In which direction did the shadow take Kristy when it dragged her off?”

“Back towards the forest where it came from, past the edge of the track, where they do some of the cross-country practice. I really don’t know any more than that.” This time it was Jennifer who was quiet for a few moments, as she slowly frowned and was lost in thought. “She acts like you’re a lot stronger than her,” she pointed with one finger over where Rebecca was still hacking away at. About half the vines had been cut and pulled away from the door, leaving a nasty green ichor which slowly oozed down toward the floor wafting a sickly foul odor in the air. “She acts like you have all the answers and you do seem to know a lot more than me. Can you teach me like you’re teaching her?”

“Nope,” Matthew answered honestly. “At my level I’m only allowed to mentor a single person. I couldn’t give you the same deal I gave her, even if I wanted. I could teach you though,” he offered, teasingly, “if the price was right. And I really don’t think I have any more questions which I want to ask,” Matthew shrugged. “Though I am curious why you haven’t put your top back on yet, when she said you could.”

“I want to live,” Jennifer replied, staring up into his eyes. “You seem stronger than her; she defers to you. You seem to have all the answers – though I’m not certain I believe them all fully. You seem to like to stare at my tits, and if that means you’re interested in keeping me safe because you can see them, then you can see them. You’re not the first person to see my boobs you know, and it’s not like a guy looking actually defiles them or changes them in any way. I’ve got six brothers and grew up in a three room trailer. I learned to ignore boys and their friends sneaking around to stare at me ages ago.”

“So what would it take for you to teach me how to become stronger and take care of myself in this game?” Jennifer asked, moving her hands to her hips and staring directly into his eyes. “You said, ‘if the price was right’. What’s the price, and what are you offering?”

“Sleep with me an…”

“No.” Without even blinking, Jennifer flatly refused. “I haven’t slept with any guys, and I’m not going to start with you. Not unless you want to woo me and win me. My first time is going to be with someone I love, and who loves me.”

“Fine.” Narrowing his eyes, Matthew half snorted. “Then I’ll at least get to look and feel all I want. ‘Becca’s already promised me I could feel all I wanted, and you claim not to care if I look.”

“I can live with that,” Jennifer nodded lightly. “But no more than that. What else? And you still haven’t told me what’s in it for me, if I agree.”

“You have to stay with us. Join our group,” Matthew demanded, “and be loyal to our group. No betraying me, Rebecca, or anyone else who might join us in the future. No leaving us when it’ll put us in a bind. No betraying our secrets, stealing our shit, or anything else like that. We’ll take care of you and help you grow and survive, and you do the same for us.”

“Is that all?” Jennifer frowned, crossing her arms over her chest once again.

“I’ll even toss in a magical book which will help teach you skills to survive in this new world,” Matthew offered. “Rebecca took one. You don’t think she’s always been able to swing a sword that hard, that fast, and with that much skill do you? Or that many times without passing out from exhaustion? The book will make you stronger, faster, and more durable than before, as well as giving you skills or magic to help you adapt to this new world.”

“Magic?” Jennifer asked, sounding skeptical. “I don’t believe in magic.”

Matthew just shrugged slightly. “Call it whatever the hell you want, but how else can you explain all this?” Waving his hand back and forth lightly, he motioned at the thick layer of vines which covered everything. “Or those creatures? The book can teach you how to do some things like they do.”

Rubbing her hand through her short cropped hair, Jennifer finally nodded. “Where’s this damn book. You can look, and I’ll even let you touch – but no more than that – and I’ll work with you guys to live and grow. I won’t betray you, as long as none of you ever betray me or anything either.”

Laughing lightly, Matthew rubbed his ring and opened the black portal that hovered above it. Jennifer’s eyes opened wide and she stared, mouth agape, as he reached into the hole and then pulled out a large square book. Rubbing the ring again to close the hole, Matthew slowly handed the book out to her. “First thing you have to do is get naked,” he informed her, a slight twinkle in the corner of his eye. “Then you’ve just got to stare at it for a few moments without blinking so it can work its magic. No need to rea…”

“I’ve got to do what?” Jennifer asked, interrupting him.

“Get naked,” Matthew responded, openly smirking at her. “It’s no big deal right, since I can look anyway? Besides, it’s not my rule. It’s just the way the damn book works.”

Jennifer stared him in the eyes for several minutes unblinking, before she finally let out a deep sigh and started to unfasten her skirt. Waiting patiently, Matthew stared and watched the whole time, grinning unabashedly, as he held out the book waiting for her to finish and take it, while all the time Rebecca continued to hack and clear out a path in front of the door so it could open outward into the hall.