One kiss led to, well, nothing. And it was entirely my fault.
Claudette cupped my face, her smile inches from my lips. She giggled sweetly blinking her eyes, as she moved her fingers through my facial hair. I could feel her fingernails against my skin; cold, soft, sharp. My eyes drifted closed, and for a moment I was back with Susie.
"Jeff, what are you thinking about?"
I forced my eyes open before answering. "Just wondering what a girl like you could possibly see in someone like me."
She shrugged, poking her tongue to the inside of her cheek. "I think you remind me of one of my professors."
"I do? Did you go to school at Hogwarts school of wizardry?"
That got a laugh. "No, but college in Southern Quebec is pretty magical. The guy was a math teacher of all things, but he spoke with the soul of an artist. You have the same spirit," Claudette said with a sweet genuine truth. She placed her finger to my lips, as if to hush me. Instead, she stuck out her tongue, smiling nervously, searching for the right words. "He was a kind man, someone who always believed in people."
She brushed her lips to mine. It was a soft, delicate touch, not more then a breath. The action barely qualified as a kiss. And yet I still recoiled.
My expression scrunched as if I was face to face with Susie all over again. If Susie's featureless mask wasn't creepy enough, there were times she kissed me. Her mouth was abnormally large, with red leathery lips covering a long serpent tongue. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry."
"It's alright."
"No, it's not." Never before had I wanted so badly to die a violent final death. "You don't deserve this."
Instead of leaving, Claudette stayed by my side, placing her hand upon mine. "Neither do you. A beautiful soul like yours doesn't deserve to feel like this." She gently kissed my fingers, looking like a princess out of a Disney movie. She then took out her hand made pencils and started to draw on a flat piece of wood. "I'm going to help you learn to love yourself, again. That's a promise." Her kindness was endearing, a true blessing in my otherwise pathetic existence.
Somehow, I became comfortable enough to sleep. The moment I closed my eyes, I felt my body go limp, and I awoke in yet another trial. Worse, it was one of the maps with a crap ton of trash everywhere. I could get lost in the best of situations, but surrounded by the yellow haze of a rotten barn and an overgrown, long dead field, it was difficult to know my head from a hole in the ground.
Still emotionally punching myself, I proceeded to trip on a rock and break my ankle. Not twist or sprain I could feel a complete break. "Oh, sweet Jesus." Could you be anymore of a screw up?
"Jesus ain't gonna help you, boy!" That was the familiar voice of a certain sharpshooting demonic inventor. The creature known as Deathslinger was a cowboy armed with a harpoon gun that had the firepower of a rifle. This was actually a good thing, since it took him a few seconds to call back his weapon before attempting to fire again. So, I had time to find cover (or at least make it a challenge for him to nail my fat ass.)
I forced myself to my feet, attempting to walk towards the sound of human voices. One step at a time, placing weight on my leg. The pain somehow seemed worse than anything I'd previously endured. Worse then being impaled, burned, poisoned. I collapsed behind a pallet, hoping that the demon would at least choose a new target.
"I see Caleb Quinn got to you!" shouted a familiar female voice. It was Meg. As usual, the former champion track athlete played the game without fear. "Make yourself useful and fix a generator." She pointed in the direction I was headed anyway, but just to screw with her I stopped in my tracks. Meg rolled her eyes and groaned. "Whatever, Jeff, I'll see you back in the hub world."
I nodded politely, hopeful that she would be the monster's next target. I suddenly felt a hand grab my upper arm. "This way," said a whisper. "I have a healing kit."
It wasn't Claudette but rather Nea, a graffiti artist from Sweden. She was about the same age as my friend with a similar youthful, creative spirit, but Nea was known to be one of the bolder souls trapped in this realm. "Here, take a seat," she said motioning to a clear space on the otherwise gravel covered floor. "We should be safe here."
I took a seat, resting my back. She had found a place relatively hidden in the shadows of a nearby wall. there was still a chance we'd be discovered but hopefully she'd have enough time.
"Let me see your leg." she opened the box releasing its power. she was not as skilled as Claudette but the process of controlling the negative energy was fairly self-explanatory. "Wow, Deathslinger really did some damage.
"Nah, just me being my usual giant, clumsy self."
Nea shook her head with a kind, compassionate smile. "You know, not everyone considers you the weakest link."
"Thanks, I guess." That was a backhanded compliment at best, but those were the kindest words I heard in a while. "Sometimes I feel like a less useful version of that one Harry Potter character."
"Hagrid," Nea said, her hands remained focused. "Yeah, I can see that."
"That's what I feel like, being stuck here with all you talented youngsters."
"Youngsters?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "First, I'm not a child and second you're aware that you're at best the 4th oldest prisoner on the team. right?"
"You're right, I apologize."
Nea giggled. "Claudette was right, you do have a beautiful smile. You're like a sexy biker, Hagrid, with the soul of a 1960's flowerchild."
"Flowerchild?"
"That wasn't an age joke, I swear!" She put down her hands, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm sorry. Are we good?"
"Yes, thank you. I owe you one."
"You're going to owe me a lot more." Nea stood up fishing a long metal object from inside her jeans.
"Is that a skeleton key?"
"I'm impressed you recognized it," she said as she twirled the item. These haven't been seen in ages."
"Since the redesign," I added. As of late, human survivors would find keys with a crown-like shape on the top. These could be used to open secret exits. No one knew who allowed us to have them or where they even appeared from. but as of late the skeleton key had been replaced by dull, or even broken items (no doubt, to fuck with any hope we had left.) "Where did you get one?"