Chapter 3

Goddamn it! She snapped her gear off and threw it across the room. That no-good, lying, devil-reincarnated jerk! He knowingly slipped her a banned item, which is whatever since it helped, but then he reported it to the pigs!

No other way they knew to search for her specifically and get permission to access the player registry without being directly in front of her. Bunch of nonsense.

The next time she saw him she’d… she’d… Well, she didn’t know what, but she had a whole freaking week to figure it out.

What kind of dude bothered to acquire a banned item, not cheap, just to play a prank on her? That’s a new level of petty even for Fawkes.

What did he even give her? It was super strong, but she never had a chance to look.

She pressed her palms to the corner of her eyes. If she had beaten the Glitch practically by herself, it nearly guaranteed an invite to at least one BRINK guild, and you can always transfer later. So close. So close to being in BRINK—being a pirate, being a pro gamer, making all this worth it—and a stupid prank yanked it out from under her feet. She sucked in a few breaths trying to calm herself in case Mom walked in. Having to explain all this would make it that much worse and lead to an ugly crying session.

Mom wouldn’t even understand. She tolerated her gaming, her dreams, but Sadie knew she didn’t really approve. The months leading up to Dad leaving involved many late-night not-so-secret fights about him playing Evarus VR. Mom put on a good face, but Sadie knew she’d rather her do anything else.

And despite that, an annoying voice in her head wanted nothing more than to bust the office door down right now and spill everything out to her.

Sniffling up the tears, she put away her VR gear. Shower then ten minutes of wallowing in ice cream. That’s it. Then time to game plan.

She laid out the steps as she headed to the bathroom.  

First, get back at Fawkes.

Second, game plan for her next chance at a Glitch. Did she still have her sword?

Second part two, if she no longer had her beautiful sword, murder Fawkes. Virtually of course.

Third, figure out what the hell happened with that Glitch.

Maybe not in that exact order.

She mulled over ways to maim Fawkes in the shower then threw on a green Natural History museum shirt with a t-rex on it and athletic shorts. That semi-cooled her off, and now ice cream time.  

The cold blast from the freezer helped cool the remaining tension all over her body. She knew it was ultimately just a game, but that didn’t make the feelings any less real. On her tiptoes, she pulled Chunky Monkey Ben and Jerry’s from the back. Mom always shoved it there because she tried to save the best and last pint for herself, and as a kid, Sadie couldn’t reach it even with a stool.

Sadie stared at Mom’s office while she scooped her first bite. Whatever mom was dealing with at work, losing her first chance at the pirates and getting suspended was a thousand percent worse.

An entire pint plus and a sleeve of Oreos later, Sadie slumped on the couch with Blackbeard nestled on her stomach purring. “You have any idea on how to get back at Fawkes?”

Blackbeard stretched with his claws out.

“I wish I could just go slice, slice with my sword and send him back to Rudi Flats to start on a new game life. One where he learns a lesion and isn’t such a herk.” She sank deeper into the couch. “But he’s good, and I have no idea where he is.” She wished she had his superpower of showing up at the worst possible times. “Maybe I just wait and then sucker punch him as soon as he shows up again. What do you think?”

Blackbeard yawned.  

“Sorry I’m boring you,” Sadie mumbled, but pet his head. She scrolled through Evarus VR and brink hopeful forums instead.

Glitches dropped all over the place, and a few groups were even successful in taking theirs down. Weird though. The one in Talaria disappeared right after her suspension. A few players reported it as a bug, which makes sense. It is an early access, so there’s bound to be a few things that go wrong.

No other player reported any sign of the Glitches, well, glitching. Not a single digital one or zero out of place. She posted her experience, including hearing a man behind the Glitch and the electric field, and asked if anyone else noticed anything just to make sure, but she left out which Glitch it was. Naturally, someone accused her of making it up and wanting video proof. Normally she livestreamed to a couple dozen people, but in her haste, she forgot to turn it on.

Overall, a resounding nada. No other weirdness outside of the Glitch in Talaria, not even the electric field.

So why was her experience so different? Did you encounter the only bugged-out monster in the event? Maybe she did imagine the man yelling. Evarus VR didn’t allow fast travel like other games, so there was no risk of someone merging into a game asset somehow from popping in at the wrong time. Whatever Fawkes snuck her must have caused an interference with the event. Wouldn’t surprise her.

Still, the man’s yell played on repeat in her head. She’d never heard anything like it before, desperate and raw, like someone screaming into a void not expecting to be heard.

If the Glitch was bugged from the start, maybe it merged with someone on the airship. No. If that happened, there’d be reports, and someone on the airship would have gotten video footage. She banged her head against the sofa. Maybe it was an NPC. And if it was an NPC, then nothing to worry about.

Churning through ideas glitched out her brain until she settled on the distinct possibility she imagined everything. Breaking down Mom’s door seemed like a better and better option. Just to feel like she isn’t crazy.

Sadie texted her. Mom hated being disturbed while in her office, but she hated having her door knocked on more. Texting let her answer in her own time.

Ten minutes passed. Thirty. And then an hour.

Sadie’s body itched. She never took this long to reply. She doubted whatever bridge or building Mom was helping engineer needed this level of focus on a Saturday. Even when Dad convinced Mom to marathon Evarus VR with him as some nerdy date night, they always replied within an hour. Dad called it their date-night-of-awesome-in time, which Sadie didn’t get because she snuck a look at their accounts, and they both sucked.

God. What if she was lying on her death bed sick and in need of medicine? Or was hit by a car? Or suffocated on a potato? Parents shouldn’t take longer than thirty minutes to reply without a really, really good reason. That’s like an unspoken rule.

And especially for them. Especially after Dad left.

“There was an emergency with his grandparents in Ireland. He’s going to be gone for a little while,” Mom had said.

Yeah, right. Did the whole country of Ireland somehow lose access to Facetime and texting? It was across the ocean, not across the galaxy. He had ways to reach out. He didn’t. He left. Without warning. Without notice. And without a goodbye.

She wiggled her butt to force Blackbeard up and walked to Mom’s door. Still closed. She pressed her ear to the door and heard nothing, so she knocked hoping Mom was only asleep.

No answer.

Weird for a woman who woke up every time she tried to sneak out of the house to go see Meera a few blocks over. Probably just a really, really deep sleep then—like sleeping beauty level.

BEEP. Sadie yelped. Their living room TV beeped again as it turned on. God, she was being such a baby. Blackbeard probably laid down on the remote.

She looked down at her feet where Blackbeard sat. Okay, so stepped on the remote then.

She peeked around the wall, and the news played on mute. See, no need to freak out. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. “Just a call. Don’t freak out.” It listed an unknown caller from Canada. Normally she never picked up spam calls, but her thumb accepted before she her mind reacted.

“Uh, hello?”

“Is this the Wall residence?” a male voice said. Chills ran down her spine even though he sounded normal, though youngish.

“Wrong number.” She hung up before he could respond.

And officially weirded out.

Maybe their house was haunted. Was that still a thing? She googled Iowa haunted locations.

Mom’s tablet dinged from the kitchen. Sadie looked between the office door and the tablet and crept towards the tablet like a ghost would pop out if she moved too quickly. She flipped open the tablet cover and clicked on the new text.

From some rando number: We need to have a conversation.

She slammed the tablet cover back on.

“MOM!” She sprinted back to the office door and tried to open it. It wouldn’t budge, so she slammed her fist against the door. “Mom! I need to talk to you.”

This was all too weird and too much. A creepy dude calling. The TV turning on seemingly out of nowhere. Mom not answering her texts. Maybe it was just her imagination again.

Or maybe Mom needed to stop working and get out of her stupid office before she broke the door down.

No answer. She tried again and again getting louder and louder each time. Still no answer. This wasn’t normal. Where was she? What was she doing? Sadie checked the garage where their only car was still parked. She checked Mom’s bedroom, the bathrooms, the freaking chicken coop. Nothing except dust, chickens, and her own increasing anxiety.

What the hell was going on?

Sadie grabbed a knife from the kitchen remembering the trick Mom used when Blackbeard somehow locked himself in her room, multiple times. She worked the butter knife at the door latch trying to slip the tip behind the latch enough to push it open. Sweat dripped down her temple, and her hand slipped causing her to nearly cut herself if the knife had been sharper.

She expected Mom to open the door and yell, “What do you think you’re doing?”  but it didn’t come. Blackbeard meowed from down the hall as he paced around the house looking for Mom.

With a click, she undid the latch and shoved the door open. She burst in ready to either yell at Mom for freaking her out or bear hug her while holding back tears.

But she could do neither because Mom wasn’t there.