《Call it a Mission》Fixing A Hole – 22 – Sometimes what you find isn’t them
Advertisement
Frank
Two kebabs later, followed by marshmallows and a round of Silly Love Songs everyone but Nora was willing to sing along in harmony, Frank was cheered. McCartney was always the best for this kind of mission. Very grounding. He checked his watch. Things were going to be starting soon. Maybe in a couple hours, maybe less.
It had been a good dinner, soon to be followed by beer chilled in the lake. That was the best part. Next he and the others knew was the hardest part. Starting to clue Gary in, get him ready so he’d be accepting. Benny was looking over at him, nodding. Yes, this time it was his turn.
On the plus side, Gary was probably amenable enough they didn’t might not have to use the twist ties he’d brought along as a last resort.
“You’ve ever been in a place like this?” he asked, nudging the man. “I mean exactly a place like this?”
“Maybe,” Gary admitted. “This place does seem familiar. But I’m sure my dad never took me further north than Escanaba.”
“You read the articles on this place, maybe?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Gary wanted to know. “Just the brochures Flores passed around last week.”
Benny was just about to start laughing. He put a hand over his mouth. Jesus, the man had the weirdest sense of humor, not to mention bad timing. Frank spotted him a warning glance then turned to look past the man.
“Oh, come on Nora,” he said. “Don’t tell me you didn’t make a copy for Gary.”
Nora rolled her eyes. Damn, they’d gone over this. It was the plan he’d come up with. Who cared no one else liked it.
“I thought I did,” she said finally on cue, then turned to Gary. “Remember that folder I put on your desk on Friday. You were supposed to read it.”
Advertisement
“Did you?” Gary asked, expression turning suspicious, annoyed then resigned. “Well, tell me now.”
Frank spotted Benny tensing, having recovered from his almost-laughing fit. There was always a chance the man would bolt. At least Benny was a yellow belt in aikido. That should be enough if needed.
“That lake out there is called the Lake of Two Skies for a reason, Gary,” he said. “There’s been some strange stuff going on here, starting way back, hundreds of years ago. It was even recorded on the petroglyphs we passed.”
“I kind of got the idea,” Gary replied. “Ghosts and spirits and such. I looked it up. And that swirling petroglyph. Benny did say it had something to do with mysterious lights, right?”
Benny nodded.
So far so good. The guy was relaxed. Or maybe it was the beer the he’d been guzzling. Whatever worked, Frank decided.
“There’s been kind of stuff more recently going on up here,” he offered. “People gone missing. Or worse.”
“You’re kidding, right,” Gary replied, nervousness now edging into his tone. “There was nothing like that on the website.”
“That’s because it’s not the kind of missing people like to hear about,” Frank told him. “So, here’s a story. A family that came up here, a few years ago. The folks and a couple kids. They come up here and then things go a bit wonky. First, one of the kids goes missing, then the other. Parents are real scared, are calling and searching. They find one of the kids, and learn they were playing some game of hide and seek. Something to do with hiding in the lights. But they don’t know where the other boy is. They are near crazy when he shows up, soaking wet, out of the blue. Almost catatonic. Heard that one before?”
Advertisement
Gary stared at him, his lips pulled back in a kind of grimace, rocked a bit on the log he was sitting on..
“I don’t think so,” he replied, sounding unsure of himself. He started shaking his head, pushing himself back from the fire.
Oh come on Gary, Frank tried to think right into the man’s skull. Don’t’ freak out yet. Let the memories come back. He glanced over at Benny. The guy just raised an eyebrow. He turned back to Gary, whose eyes had gone wide in the light of the campfire.
“Still, it did come with a kind of a happy ending,” Frank offered. “After all the parents get their kid back, he recovers after a while, seems mostly okay. And everyone forgets about it. And why shouldn’t they? Its lucky really. People go missing in the woods… sometimes you never find them. And sometimes what you find isn’t them.”
“What are you talking about?” Gary asked. “Aren’t we up here for that teambuilding exercise Flores told us we were?”
“We are,” Frank told him. “But she might not have been explicit about what kind of team we’re here to build.”
Advertisement
Gameplay
A world irrevocably altered by beings of supernatural inclination. Those people we know as more than human. Metahuman, suits, capes, supers. Heroes and Villains. The bearers of powers beyond the imagination. People capable of great good or great evil but greatness all the same. The capacity for the supernatural. The ability to move mountains with the mind. To travel across the world in a blink. To dance upon the moon. Commune with powers and energies unbeknownst to even those gifted with enhanced intelligence. To break the laws of physics and reality altogether. This is a story of growth. A young man, living near a PAT known for just that, beginning truly at the start. They say the moment a super originates is their true birth. The genesis of an individual shedding the chains of humanity and ascending into something greater. Whether good or bad, it was nearly a given that any super was destined for something extraordinary. That grand story, however, did not always start as miracle. For Ludus Rowth, it began with electrical baptism.
8 107It's not a game
Where am I? This is not my room. What is this place. If you were transported to another world, to be an RPG protagonist. Just another average weak human being, with nothing but ten copper coins and a crappy sword. Could you defeat demons, monsters and giants? I think not. In a world inhabited by all manner of unspeakable evil, by devils of both monster and man. Could you right wrongs and fix a broken world? I think not. When both your fellow man, demons and the very divines that hold reality together conspire to corrupt, extort and rape this world. When they toy with you and laugh in amusement as you dance in their palms. Could you alter fate? I think not. So when this is the thorny path ahead of our protagonists, why would you expect them to be able to? They’re just human after all, teenagers at that. Nevertheless, join me on an epic journey that will alter the course of history and reality itself as our protagonists show you what it really means to be human... in an inhuman world.
8 180The Traitor Games
Welcome to the Traitor Games, and congratulations on your invitation to join as one of the races putting on a show for the galaxy. Your species has been judged as too violent for integration into the Galactic Conglomerate and thus the decision has been made to relegate you to a probationary period during which members of your species will be pitted against each other in games of lies and betrayal. Unfortunate, but the great thing about a probationary period is that it can end! How can we do that; you might be asking. Well, that's easy, if those participants can earn enough points through playing the games, they can potentially buy out your probationary time. Of course, other rewards will also be on offer for success in the games, and if none of your species chooses to be selfless, well then it just goes to show that you wouldn't have been a good fit for us anyway. All those on Earth unlucky enough to not be chosen to become part of one of the most popular shows on Galactic Television, fear not. We will be streaming the various games your race is participating in all across the world. Should we run out of participants, even with our most generous three life system, we will draw more from the population. Good Luck! Noah Landry is one of these participants, he just doesn't know it yet. He blacks out while walking to the local bar McCaffery's, and finds himself, somewhere else. He's wearing clothing he doesn't remember putting on and rocking an absolute banger of a headache. Now he needs to figure out where he is, what's going on, and how he can get out of the Traitor Games. [Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
8 78The White Room
A group of gamers are hired as guinea pigs to test a new VR system. None of them know what exactly to expect. Is the new system bing tested, or is it them? Are they just there for games, or is there a greater game being played? My first attempt at writing LitRPG. I I'm learning as I go and therefore will probably stumble over numerous cliches of the genre and writing in general. Definitely a work in progress.
8 92The ravings of a lunatic
As the title says this is the ravings of a broken man. Mature content warning: nobody should really read this. Disturbing themes throughout the book.
8 209dreamnotfound smutshots
IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY HERES 52 GALLONS OF HOLY WATER PLEASE DRINK IT don't read if you don't like it 👉I DO NOT SHIP THESE PEOPLE IRL, JUST THEIR POTRAYED PERSONAS👈
8 169