Curious Awakening

I sit up immediately inside the stone room, the summoning circle smoking with unleashed power. The hellhound sitting down, looking at me expectantly. Its aggression replaced by curiousity. I blink slowly and am assaulted by the smell of burning flesh. Jess.

I turn to her and immediately hear her groans of pain, Alan nowhere to be seen, the notes that were strewn about the room gone. The corpse of the summoner laying dead from his wound.

Congratulations! Quest Complete: What in the -blazes-!? Although it seems you have been betrayed and your rewards claimed, Sucks to be you!

You have gained: 200 Exp! A deeper understanding of human nature! Mistrust in your fellow man!

Congratulations! You have gained enough experience to reach level 2! (2 unspent stat points)

New Quest Gained: Burn baby, burn. You have struck a deal with a devil, navigate your way through!

New Quest Gained: Judas. You placed your trust in someone you just met! What a smart decision! Resolve this however you can!

"No, no, no, no" I say as a scramble over to Jess, her burns are sickening and severe, her eye melted into her head. I frantically glance around the room, looking for anything i can use to help. She took this for me, I was going to get hurt, AGAIN.

A giggle floats through my mind, and edge of vicious mockery laced throughout. "You do remember my domain right? I can help you with that. In exchange."

"For what? In exchange for what?" I almost scream.

"A favour, to be named at a later date ofcourse." her interest unmistakable.

In for a penny, I think to myself. "Agreed, just help her"

"Put your hand on her, anywhere" she says with a laugh, continuing to echo throughout the reaches of my mind.

I lay my hand on her arm, she is out from the pain at this point, I assume she went to that knockout zone and logged out, I know I would have. Maybe re-thought playing this game at all. After a few seconds the burns on her body seemed to start crawling, flowing over her skin and absorbing in to my body. It burns my hand, but not by much. A shadow of a shadow of pain.

"Did you know that humankind, in this real, has no access to natural magic? You all gain it through artifacts or other.. special means" Ember says. "What you have gained through me is rare among your kind."

The burns gone from Jessica's skin, she lays there. I cannot tell if she is offline or in the dark place. I wish this game came with manual. Fuck it, i've spent quite some time in this game now and I definitely need a break. Some time to think about this. I'll look for her offline and try figure this all out.

I go for my logout button, and the last thing I hear as I sign out is "see you on the other side."

I wake up in the real world, in my shitty messy room. Taking off the Immerse headset, looking around I decide it's time for supper, and maybe a long relaxing bath to get my thoughts in order. But first I log onto the Auxilium site and leave a post of the forums looking for Jess, a long shot but any shot I can make is a step forward.

With the post made, I go through to my kitchen and set some water to boil. For once in my life I start tidying my place up as I wait, the mindless task helping me clear my head and reach some sort of zen. I clean and clean and time passes in a blur of uncounted minutes, and it occurs to me that I've forgotten the water on boil. Fuck, I run to grab it and in my haste to move it off the stove I knock it onto the ground. The water splashes all over me, and I wait that moment for the agony to set in.

I feel.. the lightest pain, a shadow of a shadow of what it should be.

"I told you I would see you on the other side" comes a voice, echoing in the deepest parts of my mind.