LEVEL 13

PLAYER ONE: REMY

We gamed. We gamed harder than anyone in the history of gaming has ever gamed. My crew and I were relentless, only taking breaks to pet the kittens and retrieve snacks and beverages.

In the middle of a jump puzzle over the ruins of Valin, I asked Trevor to check his phone. “Any word from Fauna?”

“Nothing. I’ve emailed like four times.”

Worry pressed on my shoulders, and I sat my controller in my lap while Lennon completed the jumps. I searched the number for the animal shelter and rang. A man answered.

“Hey,” I stumbled, almost fucking up my portion of the jump. “Is Fauna there?”

“She’s not in this week. Is there something I can assist you with?”

“Do you know where she went? I’m her girlfriend.” I put the call on speaker so I didn’t lose this puzzle for the team.

“If you’re her girlfriend, why don’t you know where she is?”

Joss chuckled between handfuls of fruity candy.

“Listen, dude, if you tell me where she is, I’ll make a sizable donation to the shelter. How about that?”

The young man scoffed. “How’s that help me?”

I sighed. “Alright… Do you have tattoos or piercings? I work at Skulls and Roses downtown. Come by anytime, and I’ll hook you up for free.”

Dogs barked in the distance as the dude considered my offer. “She said something about going to see her Gamma.”

Hope sprang in my chest. “Do you know where Gamma lives?”

Please be local, please be local, please be local. If Fauna moved or ran off to some faraway place, I would have simply lost my mind. It was killing me that I hadn’t heard from her in days. It was killing me to know I could have been helping her take down these bully bitches sooner. Why didn’t she ask me for help?

“Some nursing home on the west side.”

Trevor asked into the speaker. “Sunny Side Living? Or West Mount?”

The dogs barked louder. “The puppy got out of his crate—I have to go. Sunny Side sounds right.”

My phone flashed dark as the call ended.

“You going now or later?” Rollo asked, chopping the head off a troll.

Trevor awed. “Damn, dude, you’re a freakin beast in this game.”

Rollo did an imaginary hair toss. “I am, aren’t I?”

I answered my brother. “I don’t want to leave you guys, but I do want to check on her.”

“We’ve got this for a while,” Joss said before chugging an orange soda. “We’re almost to the sixth level of the moon core. We’ll need you for that, though. If we beat that, then it’s end game time.”

I awed. “I can’t believe we’ve made it so far. Alright, I’ll be back in an hour.”

Lennon tossed me my jacket as thunder clapped in the distance.

“Can I borrow your?—“

Lennon tossed me their keys.

I stepped over a pile of kittens and the various snack wrappers and kissed Len on the head. “You’re the best.”

The receptionist at Sunny Side Living flicked me a small glance before slowly unwrapping a piece of gum. Her sun-shaped name tag read Cheryl in bright blue letters. She slid open the glass divider and plopped her gum into her mouth. “How can I help you?”

“I’m here to see…Miss Belrose.” I leaned forward on my elbows.

Cheryl eyed me skeptically, raking her gaze over my tattooed arms, up to my snake bite piercings and messy wet hair. “Sorry, Sundays are family only.”

“Oh, I know. I am family,” I lied. “I am…Fauna Belrose. I come here all the time. It’s like a second home to me, really.”

Cheryl clicked her gum between her teeth. “Your name is… Fauna ?” She eyed my getup suspiciously.

I shrugged. “My parents vastly misjudged my future aesthetic.”

“How come I’ve never seen you here before?”

I ran my hand through my hair. “Seriously, Cheryl? We’ve met several times. Honestly, I’m hurt you don’t remember me. I surely remember you and those pretty hazel eyes. Also, you know I stick to the shadows.” I flashed my smile, but she didn’t smile back. Damn, tough crowd—my charm was usually foolproof.

“I don’t remember you. You got any identification?”

I dug in my pockets. “Must have left it in the car.” Because God is a woman, lightning flashed on cue, and the lights flickered. “Don’t make me go back out there? Come on, Cheryl. I just want to visit Gamma. She’s afraid of storms. I should really go see if she’s okay.”

The receptionist narrowed her gaze a final time before sliding a clipboard forward. “Sign in.”

“Thank you kindly.” I scanned the page, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Fauna’s swirly signature and the previous day’s date. She was here. And luckily, Cheryl wasn’t good at reading the check in log—or resisting my prowess with the ladies.

I winked a turned left.

“Miss Belrose’s room is down the right hallway,” Cheryl drawled.

“Right, that’s right. She moved.”

“She’s never moved.”

I winked as I course-corrected. “That color yellow is really delightful on you, Cheryl. Truly, I adore our chats every week.”

She closed the plexiglass window with a loud sigh and shook her head. Love or hate me, didn’t matter. I checked every name card on each door I passed until finally reaching Belrose. The door was ajar, and sounds of the television and laughter floated into the hall. I knocked and stepped in. “Hey,” I greeted.

Fauna sat cross legged in a recliner, an older woman sitting up in bed next to her.

“Remy? What are you doing here?” Fauna stood and began brushing her hair with her fingers and wiping crumbs off her shirt. “Gamma, this is my—my?—“

“Hi, Gamma. I’m Fauna’s girlfriend, Remy Monroe.”

Fauna turned as pink as her shirt as I shook her grandmother’s hand.

“Oh, finally, Fauna has found someone who makes her happy.” Gamma beamed. “So glad to have you for a visit.”

“I’m happy to be here,” I smiled. Fauna and her grandma had the same freckles on their noses. “Do you mind if I steal Fauna for a moment?”

“Go right ahead, dear. My show is starting anyway.”

Fauna grabbed my arm and pulled me outside the room. “What the hell, Remy? How did you even find me and get in here?”

“I think I owe your coworker tattoos and piercings for life…and I got in here because front-desk Cheryl has a crush on me.” I raised my eyebrows and rubbed Fauna’s elbows as she crossed her arms. “Come on, princess. Don’t be mad at me. I’ve been so worried about you.”

“You didn’t seem too worried when you took off and abandoned me at your parents’ house last week. It took me an hour to find my missing shoe.” She pulled back. “Why are you even here? And where do you get off, calling me your girlfriend to my grandma?”

I tucked a stray piece of blonde hair behind Fauna’s ear. “I am your girlfriend, and I’ll never leave you like that again. Please forgive me?”

Fauna crossed her arms and kicked at the ground.

I tugged at her shirt. “You’re really, really cute when you try to resist me, princess. But it’s just a fact that you’re stuck with me.”

“I’ve messed everything up,” she said on a quivering breath. “I’ve lost you, my kittens, my friends, and pretty soon, everyone will be laughing at me when Prue continues wrecking my life.”

I shook my head and pulled her into my arms. “Nothing is messed up…except maybe my gaming chair. The kittens keep using it as a scratching post.”

Fauna looked up at me, her eyes widening in realization. “What kittens?”

“Tidbit, Traffic Cone, and Pancakes—those are their names, right? That jerk ex-friend of yours had them at my show, so I, very calmly and non-dramatically, retrieved them.”

Fauna gasped. “Turnip, Pinecone, and Waffles…they’re with you?” She hugged me tight and buried her face in my chest, sniffling through tears. “Thank you, Remy.”

I ran my fingers through her hair and kissed the top of her head. “I called and had Trevor email you. Why’d you go dark, princess?”

“When I came home that night and my place was ransacked and the kittens were gone, it felt like I’d lost you, my pets, and everything I care about. So, I came to stay with Gamma while I figure out what to do next.”

“Wait, Prue broke into your apartment?”

“I think she still had a key. We used to be best friends.”

“What the fuck happened, Fauna? Be for real, right now. I won’t judge you. I’m just trying to understand.”

With a sigh, she leaned against the pebbled wall. Two residents walked by, and she waved and said hello before sucking in another breath. “Prue was my first friend when I started college. On my first day of class, she asked where I found a strawberry soda. The next day, I brought her one. The day after that, she brought me one. It became our thing, I guess, and we became close. She gamed, I gamed; we connected on that too. I dyed my hair pink, she dyed hers purple to match. I started V for Valin, she started V for Valin. I liked the snacks and people watching at soccer games, she camped out in the same spot on my hill with me.”

“Were you two ever…you know, more?”

With a groan she looked to the ceiling. “I don’t know. It was ambiguous. We never did anything—well, except the one night I regret.”

“What happened?”

“We went to some frat party?—“

“First mistake,” I interrupted with a grumble. My skin crawled at the idea of Fauna being around drunk, idiot fraternity dudes.

“I know, I know,” she answered. “Making friends has always been hard for me, so when she invited me and told me the whole soccer team partied with them…I felt like I should go.”

An elderly woman scooted past, the tennis balls on her walker squeaking against the tile. Fauna smiled at her before continuing. “I’m a lightweight. I had a little too much to drink, and before I knew it, me and Prue were in a bed upstairs…”

“I really fucking hate where this is going.”

“Long, stupid story short, Prue sort of got me to, you know, do stuff on myself, and she filmed it. I was too drunk to really care. But once I confronted her afterward, telling her I didn’t feel very safe in our friendship after that interaction and asking to take a break—she lost it.”

“Lost it how?”

“Started posting shit about me online, saying I was trying to sleep with everyone, that I led her on and lied to her—but the worst part is, she put the video up on V for Valin. The winners board is a free for all, and hundreds of thousands of people have been inching closer to it day by day. I’m sure it’ll be flagged and taken down eventually, but not before half the world and university see it and save it first. That’s why I’ve been so obsessively playing. If I can get to the end of the game and report it…”

“How did Prue even make it to the end of the hardest RPG of the decade? And how fucking devious can a person be?” Anger roiled in my chest.

Fauna looked down at her shoes. “Chet helped. Once Trevor saw they were terrorizing me, he offered to hang around and keep me safe. If I was dating the star of the soccer team, Chet and the team would leave me alone. And with Chet reining Prue in…it bought me some time. But I haven’t gotten nearly far enough in the game, and Prue keeps taunting me. I really didn’t mean to lie to you, Remy, or hide this—I’ve just been so embarrassed.”

Lifting her chin with my thumb and forefinger, I forced her to look in my eyes. “You did nothing wrong. You trusted a shitty person who took advantage of you and decided to punish you for breaking ties. Having a kind heart and trusting people is nothing to apologize for.”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Well, I’m glad you think so. But you might not want to be associated with me. My inebriated personal moments are about to be plastered across the internet. I’m too late, too far behind. I couldn’t beat the game alone.”

I hadn’t realized my smirk as I bent to kiss her. She pulled back and raised a questioning eyebrow. “Like my Gamma would say, you look like the cat who got the canary right now. What’s up?”

“Let’s say bye to Gamma. You’re coming with me.”

“What? No, I can’t.”

“Can and will.” I ushered her through our goodbyes, and we promised to visit again soon. I pulled Fauna out the door and into Len’s car, back to my apartment. Fauna’s bewilderment intensified when I opened the front door and she took in the chaotic scene before us.

I’d gone after her despite thinking she was with my twin brother. I’d given up on my gig mid-set and stolen her kittens back, broke into a nursing home, and organized the most intense gaming night of my life—all for her. Yet somehow, it felt like nothing. It felt like less than nothing. Fauna deserved the world; no, she deserved a world that was a lot less cruel to her gentle and kind spirit. Maybe I was an impulsive, self-centered idiot, but I’d vowed within myself to give her a glimpse a world less harsh. I could be her respite, her reason for laughing, for breathing a little easier—at least, I knew I’d always try. I’d try forever for her.