Chapter One
***
My phone rang. Which was fucking odd. Nobody called me, except mom and grandma. And someone called 'Spam Likely,' who sounded like a cool dude, but I didn't ever answer his calls so I'll never know.
I looked at the name, flashing above a reddit thread I'd been reading, and hit the green button.
"Prove it's you," I said.
"I... what?" The voice on the other end said.
"Theo doesn't know his phone makes voice calls. Therefore, I doubt that this is Theo. Prove your identity or get the fuck hence."
"Vic, man, it's me. I swear."
"Hmm. Not buying it."
"Man, screw you... okay, wait. Remember when I got my head stuck in the Darth Vader helmet?"
"I do..."
"And my mom had to butter my whole fucking head like I was a cob of corn? And you could not stop laughing?"
"It's ringing a bell..."
"Dude, come on."
"Okay, I provisionally accept that this is Theo or a reasonable facsimile. What does 'Theo' want with me at this ungodly hour of..." I had to look. "...Eleven AM?"
"Session. Everyone's schedule is clear, part six of the Necromancer of Femur Pass Saga. Tonight and tonight only. You in?"
"No shit?" Our DnD group hadn't gotten together all summer, nobody thought we'd ever finish our adventure, let alone the campaign we'd begun in junior year of high school. "Hell yeah, I'm in."
"Excellent. That's three. I got deputized to wrangle the strays in." I heard a car door slam on his end. "Rollin' up on Ben, right now."
"Sweet. Um... gonna need a ride." My sister, nominally my chauffeur, was out, dropping off our parents at the airport. Or picking up her friends... one of the two.
"Yeah? Gimme about an hour, I'll come by. Later." And the call ended.
I put a hustle on, regretting just lounging about in bed for the last couple of hours. Shower first, then a muffin or something for breakfast, then I'd have to find all my stuff... not terrible. Doable, in the allotted time.
So, to finish setting the stage, mom and dad were out of town, for a conference. This time it was in Ottawa, because last year, the Vegas meet-up had sent a ripple of bitter, nasty divorces through the local realtor community, and nobody wanted that again. Today was Friday, they'd be back Wednesday or Thursday, depending on whether or not they stuck around for some sight seeing after the conference officially closed. Or, even Tuesday, if they elected not to attend the last day, which I'd heard was usually a waste of time.
Big sis was putting together a sleepover with her friends, taking advantage of the almost empty house. It differed from their high school sleepovers only in the minor detail that they were legally of drinking age. Not that that had stopped them before. The fact that she remained in contact with her old high school buddies as a junior in college gave me hope that I'd still associate with my best buds in the future. But, she'd stressed this was important to her, and I definitely wanted her to have some stress relief and comforting people around her. She'd been getting pretty, um... sharp, lately. Stress from class, boyfriends, or the pressures of the real world job hunt she'd just started, I didn't know, but she was accumulating a lot of it in a rapid time.
So actually, this serendipitous session was just what I needed right now. It got me away from the house, it allowed me some stress relief, and I'd get to wrap up a dangling thread that my friend group had left laying around for three months. It felt like it was going to be a good day.
***
I have to admit, now that high school is behind me, that I've lost all motivation to keep myself organized. Which is why I was frantically searching my room, looking for my essential items. Crunch time was approaching, and I was kind of losing my mind.
Now, it wasn't a pigsty, by any means, Mom would never allow that. But I had been keeping my surfaces clutter free lately by shoving everything into drawers, and it made finding shit aggravating. I let my frustration run my mouth, and I said, very loudly, "Where the fuck did I put the goddamn dice bag?"
This managed to get the attention of my big sister, Ashley, who was coming up the hall with four of her lackeys in tow. She stuck her head in my room and asked, overly sweetly, "What's wrong, little bro?"
I tried to dismiss her, while pawing through my sock drawer. "Can't find my thing." I immediately regretted my choice of words, as five girls erupted into giggles. I put my head against my dresser, anticipating the coming mockery. I was not disappointed.
"Aww, little Vicky-wicky lost his little thingie-wingie?" Ash sing-songed at me. More giggles from the familiar girls behind her. "I'd help, but I don't have a magnifying glass."
I rolled my eyes so hard, it actually made them ache a little. "Shut up, Ash. You know better, anyways." Slightly mean older sisters ought to respect their little brother's privacy a bit better, then she wouldn't have that knowledge. But, y'know, us guys jerk it, often, and when she barges into my room without knocking, also often, she's gonna get a surprise or two. You'd think she woulda stopped after the first one, but Ash wasn't great about boundaries.