7 chapter 7

Lex stared at the lifeless flesh he had just beheaded. His body was trembling. His legs were weak. And he didn't want to admit it, but he was cold and afraid. He wanted to go back home, but he couldn't. He was too far gone. But at least the eyes in Yellow Faction could see that he wasn't completely useless. He had been handed into the arms of grace not having been eaten by those orgs, not to mention having slashing them to bits. Yes, Lex hoped Yellow Faction would see that. Lex hoped Yellow Faction wouldn't see him as a hopeless player now.

Lex couldn't stand here for too long though. The orgs would be back and next time they wouldn't make it so easy for him to have a smooth kill. He turned in the direction of where the silhouette had been and then he turned to where Ruben's dead body was. It probably would have been appropriate to dig a hole up for his body so it wouldn't attract any orgs, but that would take forever. By the time it took to bury the body, the orgs would've already thronged him. His main priority was to find the silhouette girl or guy. The person that saved his life.

Lex continued to run straight ahead. He hated how his heart was hammering. Or maybe he despised how hollow and colorless the forest was.

"Hey! I know you're here! Show yourself!" Lex bellowed.

This was a very stupid idea. For all he knew the silhouetted figure could just turn around and shoot him. It didn't owe him anything. But Lex was desperate. He was alone. Fuck it, who was to say he wasn't borderline paranoid. The trees were already molding up to look like orgs.

Lex trudged on a few more dry leaves until he saw a shadow sweep above him. Then he heard laughter echo across the air. High pitched maniacal laughter. There came a cracking noise as if somebody was trying to step on a branch.

"Don't move," said a young voice. It was determined. Lex's ears perked at the sound of a gun being reloaded.

"Show yourself. I mean no harm." Lex said softly putting his hands up.

"You sure about that? You just slaughtered a bunch of orgs like they were a basket of tomatoes and you mean no harm?" The uncomfortable laughter rang out again.

The figure jumped down from the tree like an apple falling off its branch. The kid was around twenty years of age. He had black hair with white paint all over his face and black paint smeared across his lips. He wore a black hoodie and he was holding a silver revolver in his hand. He had a sleazy and mysterious appearance that screamed out chaos and painted murder. At first, when he saw this kid, Lex thought of death. But then something else came to mind. Security.

"And you are?" Lex asked nonchalantly, acting as if he wasn't afraid.

The white-masked kid smiled. The smile was a little too long for Lex's taste.

"In the old world, my friends and family knew me as Otis. But in this game, they call me Briyune."

"You're an Echo?"

Briyune's smile died a little bit. "Something like that. There was nothing left for me in my faction to return. Here, it's different. I work for somebody."

"Who?"

Briyune shoved the revolver under Lex's chin. He chuckled. It was a sharklike chuckle. "Who are you to ask me questions like this?"

"I'm Lex. We should work together."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you saved my life. You shot one of the orgs that were about to eat me."

"If that was up to me, you'd be dead right now. Look-actually, nevermind. I might actually have some fun with this. Alright Lexxy boy, be my apprentice. But I warn you, I don't play nice."

Briyune silently walked past Lex

"Where are we going?" Lex asked.

"To kill some players," said Briyune.

"What?" Lex felt as if someone just poured cold water on him.

"And you're going to be the first one to do it."

They crept across an underbrush and stopped, allowing the thick plants to conceal their appearance. Just an eye view away there were two girls sleeping on a tree trunk. Players. They had both been from Blue Faction when they first started the game and they had already collected five out of the ten purple orbs.

"Kill them, now," Briyune said, his voice slithering in Lex's ear. His voice was so slimy but tempting. This clearly wasn't a favor, it was a request. Briyune handed him the gun, urging Lex. But Lex felt something in his body tugging at him.

"This is wrong," Lex said, wavering the revolver.

"There are no morals in this game Lex. Just those willing to do what it takes to get to the next level. I learned that long ago." said Briyune.

Determined, Lex grasped the gun and aimed. In a few seconds, two bullet shots sang across the forest and the two sleeping players were awarded a bloody kiss.

Next, Briyune taught Lex how to scamper up the trees and jump from branch to branch and learn how to disguise himself behind the leaves. After jumping from tree to tree across the grove, they finally came upon their next prey. There were four of them and they stood below them like little ants. One of them had untidy brown hair, the other had curly brown hair, while there were two blonde girls that stood across from them. Lex felt as if an invisible hand had just slapped him. It was Aaron, Miles, and Heather.

"Who's Grace?" Aaron asked.

"She's the queen of the woods. She controls the AIs and the orgs. Almost anyone or anything in this forest is under her command." said Regina.

"You aren't?"

"I don't agree with her orders. She wants to kill every player in this game. She sees them as a threat to her sovereignty. Your only escape from this place is to collect those purple orbs."

"We've only had-"

Aaron's words were cut short by a bullet that whizzed past him. It poked a hole into the tree trunk.

"Briyune," said Regina darkly. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

The group ran away from the large tree and fled through the bushy face of the forest. Two more bullet shots zoomed after them, but they ended up hitting the branches. They arrived at another tree. But this one was bigger than the one they had been in. It was about the size of a house and it had glowing purple leaves with blue fabrics of air surrounding it.

Regina laughed with joy, but it was undertone with relief.

"Welcome to The Center," said Regina. "This place temporarily protects all Players from outside dangers for a day. That tree over there is the Tree of Memory, it's root sends a shield that protects us and it's leaves preserves the memories of those who died in this forest."

"It's relaxing," said Heather, grinning.

Aaron sauntered around the tree. He was able to find four purple orbs scattered around near it. For now, that was a job well done. Five out of the ten orbs collected.

"We should rest. We'll need energy for tomorrow," said Aaron.

"Where the heck would we go? We're just aimlessly looking for purple balls," said Miles.

"We'll continue north. So far it's been our safest passage yet."

"I'll keep watch," said Regina jubilantly.

And with that, the group sank in for the night near the mountainous purple tree. The next morning they got up and left early, out of the fear that the protection charm had already worn off. The forest was a different kind of place during the day. The sky was now an eerie tinted blue covered in fog and the birds that chirped sounded pretty harsh. Like they'd been affected by the soullessness of the forest.

They arrived at a bridge. But this bridge was so foggy that it was hard to tell where it started and where it ended. As they crossed it Aaron thought he saw shadows that didn't belong to him. Suddenly Miles, Heather, and Regina disappeared. Aaron was standing alone choked by the haunting fog. He thought he heard Regina's voice but it seemed so distant.

"Watch...the...Mermaids." Aaron thought he heard her say.

What Mermaids? Was she talking about the ancient folklore creatures? And what would they be doing on a bridge?

Then, automatically, Aaron saw three girls walk toward him. They had lustrous purple hair, sparkling violet eyes, and luscious pink lips. Aaron discovered that their beauty could not be ignored. They were very enticing to look at.

They began to come closer to Aaron and they caressed their delicate hands all over his body. They kissed him all over his face, all except his lips.

"Kiss us," they whispered to him. Their voices were as soft as silk. "Just one kiss. One kiss from our love."

Aaron was overwhelmed with lust. And it didn't help his case that the Mermaids were completely naked and they were slithering their hands under his shirt. He was going to. Oh, how he very much wanted to. But a voice in the back of his head told him not to. There was something sweetly poisoning about these girls.

"Thanks for the suggestion girls...but no thanks."

With a hot face, he bravely bulldozed past the purple-haired Mermaids. And once he was in the clear, he quickly ran. As he was running, he felt something soft beneath his feet. Almost like it was a body. Aaron knelt and discovered there were three bodies of players lying on the ground. It seemed that had tried to cross the bridge but had fallen to their deaths instead. He noticed the purple mark on their lips. They had kissed the Mermaids and met their untimely fate.

The purple orbs that they had carried had fallen as well and they were lying on the ground. There were four of them. Aaron greedily grabbed them. The tally above him now read nine out of ten in purple color.

"You dare deny us?" shrieked one of the Mermaids, now emerging out of the fog. "No one denies the Mermaids! Come here you freak and face the kiss of death."

Aaron began to run but accidentally fell on some more bodies. Upon falling, he had landed on a yellow orb. The orb transformed into a bronze sword.

"Come back here!" The Mermaid hissed.

Aaron quickly grabbed the sword and shanked the Mermaid in the stomach. The Mermaid screamed in fury, held her stomach like she was conceiving a baby, and then jumped off the bridge, into the cold deep waters. Of course, this wasn't the end. More of them would be coming. Aaron picked up his pace and continued to run as far as he could. Until he saw he wasn't standing on the bridge anymore. But that was impossible to tell with the fog and dead corpses.

That was until he saw another purple orb lying on the ground. It was the final one he had to collect. This time it was lying near a shrub. He had finally made it to the ground again! He quickly went up to grab it.

The tally above him read ten out of ten and there was a green checkmark beside it. Suddenly another mission appeared underneath it. Defeat Grace.

Aaron looked at the floating glass panel, puzzled. How could there be another mission? The game had cheated him. And where were Miles, Heather, and Regina?

Out of nowhere, the ground began to rumble and a pack of two-headed beasts with rocky skin emerged out of the ground. They looked depraved. They were starved. Their bracing brown canines were evidence of that.

"I must say, you really are special Aaron Werkheiser. To have made it this far without getting mauled by an org, to have successfully passed the Unforgivable Bridge, and completely collect all the purple orbs. You really are one of a kind."

A sandy-haired girl appeared out of the shadows. She was around eighteen years old and she was attired in an orange blouse with black jeans. She had sharp blue eyes that made you feel like she was looking through your soul. And she was pretty. Cute. But not threateningly pretty like the Mermaids, no. She was calmer. Wiser. And yet she smiled, looking at Aaron menacingly. Like she was a vulture and he was a mouse.

Aaron trembled, he couldn't stop looking into those dagger eyes.

"You're Grace," he breathed out.