Inside Out_Bloodfeast Book 1 Read online

  He reached into the bowl with cupped hands. Pulling up a handful of cool toilet water, Arnold69 splashed it on his face. He found it quite refreshing. Compared to the dirty water he was used to using in Bloodfeast, this water seemed clean enough to drink – so that's exactly what he did. Arnold69 scooped another handful of water out of the bowl and took a long swig. Though disgusting by most people's standards, for someone who was used to drinking out of swamps and ponds, Arnold69 thought it was the freshest sip of water he'd ever drank.

  After taking a couple more sips from the toilet, Arnold69 left the bathroom and walked over to the last remaining door. Though it took him a minute, he figured out how to unlock the deadbolt and the door chain. Then, he opened the door and took a step outside.

  “What the...” Arnold69 said as he looked around. “Ethelwulf, get over here!”

  Ethelwulf slowly got up off the couch and joined Arnold69 out on the porch. The two of them just stood there in silence, eyes wide. Bloodfeast MMO, their world, while filled with magic and wonder, was set in medieval times. This was modern-day Boston and they'd never seen anything like it.

  When the confused characters looked up, all they saw were skyscrapers. In front of them, hundreds of strangely-clothed pedestrians walked the streets. Cars zoomed by going both ways, occasionally with their horns blasting. After about a minute, both characters felt overwhelmed and went back inside, closing the door behind them.

  “We're not in Lakewind anymore,” Ethelwulf said.

  “No kidding,” Arnold69 replied. “I wonder what happened to the others.”

  Ethelwulf was so caught up in his own situation that he'd forgotten about the girls. None of what had happened made sense to him. The four of them, once they became sentient and realized they were being controlled, thought it was the gods controlling them. Though flattered at first, the four of them quickly became angry at the gods. They didn't like how they were being controlled. Once they found out about the Orb of Displacement, the four characters figured out a way to use it to swap places with the gods who were controlling them. Little did they know that their gods were actually four college-aged kids playing a video game.

  “We have to find them,” Ethelwulf said.

  “How?” Arnold asked.

  “I don't know, yet. But if they're here somewhere, we have to find them.”

  * * *

  A few blocks away, Dwyndolin and Alalia sat on the beds in Alyssa and Stephanie's dorm room talking to each other.

  “None of this makes any sense,” Alalia said in Stephanie's soft, feminine voice. “This is the great beyond? Where are my grandparents? The unlimited wealth that's supposed to be waiting for each of us? And where are Ethelwulf and Arnold69?”

  “I don't know,” Dwyndolin replied, shaking her head.

  “All I see is two beds, two chairs, and two magic screens showing what the gods are doing in our bodies. This can't be it!”

  The characters sat staring at the two screens. They watched Stephanie and Alyssa walking around Lakewind in their bodies. Both of them were overcome with anxiety, especially Alalia.

  Suddenly, they both sat up straight when they heard someone at the door.

  Knock, knock, knock.

  “Hey, Alyssa!” they heard. “You in there?”

  Dwyndolin and Alalia looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

  Knock. Knock. Knock!

  “Alyssa! Come on! We're gonna be late.”

  Dwyndolin knew Alalia well enough to know that she wasn't gonna say or do anything. She was way too timid. Dwyndolin got up off the couch and approached the door with confidence. In Bloodfeast, Dwyndolin was a not only a white mage, but also a lioness shifter. If things got out of control, she could just shift into her half-lioness form – or so she thought.

  “Alyssa, there you are!” a young woman said as Dwyndolin opened the door. “Are you still coming with us to the party over at the Alpha Sigma frat? It's gonna be off the chain!”

  “I... I don't think so,” Dwyndolin replied.

  “Why not? Not feeling well or something?”

  “Yes,” she answered, trying to get rid of the girl. Dwyndolin was trying to shift into her half-lioness form, but it wasn't working and she was starting to panic. “I'm ill and require rest.”

  “Well that sucks. But I understand. Get some rest and I'll see you on Monday,” the girl replied. She saw Alalia sitting on her bed and said, “Hi Steph!”

  “Hello,” Alalia replied, softly.

  The girl disappeared down the hallway and Dwyndolin shut the door, returning to her bed. After a minute of silent thought, her and Alalia started talking.

  “Okay, so she thought my name was Alyssa,” Dwyndolin said. “And she called you Steph. Maybe those are the names of the gods whose bodies we're in.”

  “I'm not so sure that we are in the bodies of gods,” Alalia replied.

  “Then what are we?” Dwyndolin asked.

  Shrugging her shoulders, Alalia replied, “I have no freakin' idea.”

  “Well, we can figure out all the details later. Right now, we have to try to find Arnold69 and Ethelwulf. They must be around here somewhere.”

  “Where?” Alalia asked.

  “I have no freakin' idea,” Dwyndolin answered.

  Both girls cracked a smile, but only for a second. The great beyond wasn't anything like what they were expecting. They spent the remainder of the evening in their dorm room, alternating between periods of intense conversation and long silent streaks.

  “I wish I had my spell book,” Alalia said at one point. “Or my bow. If we got attacked by a bunch of goblins or whatever in here, we'd be toast.”

  “I know,” Dwyndolin replied. “When that girl came to the door, I tried to shift but couldn't. You know what?”

  “What?” Alalia asked.

  “I might not have my spell book either, but I have a couple low-level protection spells memorized. Let me cast one on us. That should at least keep us safe throughout the night.”

  Dwyndolin recited the words to the first spell. Nothing happened. Normally, the two of them would be surrounded by a large white orb with the word Protection over it when the spell was successfully cast.

  “Did it work?” Alalia asked.

  “I don't think so,” Dwyndolin replied. “Let me try the other one I have memorized.”

  Again, Dwyndolin tried to cast a protection spell but nothing happened.

  “This isn't good,” she said.

  Practically shaking, Alalia replied, “This isn't good at all.”

  “Let's try to get some rest. In the morning, we'll start looking for Arnold69 and Ethelwulf.”

  The female characters laid in bed but had a hard time falling asleep. They didn't figure out that the light in their room could be shut off until halfway through the night. They did, however, figure out the right way to use the bathroom pretty quickly. Both girls took a long, hot bath before bed which helped to ease their anxiety a little bit. Though they weren't sure how they were gonna find the boys, they knew it was their first quest in their strange new world.

  Chapter 6 - The Orb Explained

  “You're such an asshole!” the half-human, half-elven woman yelled as she left Luke's room at the inn, slamming the door behind her. She stormed down the hallway, passing Mitch on his way to Luke's room.

  “What was that all about?” Mitch asked his friend. “I mean, she's not wrong: You are kinda an asshole. But what did you do to make her realize that you're an asshole?”

  “I tried to stick it in hers without asking first,” Luke said with a half-smile.

  Mitch just shook his head and said, “You ready? Let's go see if the others are up.”

  The sun was rising over Lakewind and the four friends were eager to start looking for the woman near the weaponsmith. Alyssa and Stephanie were awake and joined the boys in the tavern for a bite to eat before they set out. Luke slammed a couple early-morning ales wit
h his eggs and leg of zebralligator, an animal in the game that – you guessed it – was a cross between a zebra and an alligator. It's really just an alligator with stripes, but Luke found it to be a delicious way to start his day.

  After finishing breakfast, the four friends gathered up their belongings and walked to the weaponsmith. Luke went inside to check out the weapons for sale and to get his longsword sharpened. The others spread out, wandering around looking for the NPC that the halfling told them about.

  “Hi,” Alyssa said, approaching an NPC walking down the street.

  “Hi there!” [NPC] Brunhilda, farmer replied.

  “I was wondering if you know anything about the Orb of Displacement.”

  “I'm sorry. I've never heard of it. I'm just a farmer.”

  “Do you know if there's another woman around here that might know?” Alyssa asked. “A woman that might be a little, um, crazy?”

  Brunhilda smiled and answered, “I think I know just who you're talking about. I haven't seen her today, yet, but she's usually out here somewhere. Always talking her nonsense – if she's talking at all, that is.”

  Brunhilda laughed and continued walking down the street. Alyssa smiled, knowing that the crazy woman must be around somewhere. She continued to walk around looking for her.

  Stephanie walked down the street in the opposite direction of Alyssa. She passed a few players, but no NPCs. Just when she was getting ready to turn around and head back to the weaponsmith, Stephanie saw an NPC sitting on a stump petting what kind of looked like a cat.

  “Hello there,” Stephanie said, smiling in an attempt to hide her anxiety.

  The woman looked up at Stephanie but didn't say anything. She just kept petting the animal in her lap. Stephanie looked down the road hoping to spot one of her friends, but they were nowhere to be seen. Her eyes returned to the woman and underneath her it read, [NPC] Larilda, crazy crat lady. Unlike most other non-player characters, Larilda's info was written in blue, not green. Stephanie noticed but didn't think anything of it.

  “Larilda, is it?” Stephanie asked, trying to talk to her again. “I'm Steph. It's nice to meet you.”

  The woman just sat there, looking up at Stephanie and petting her animal without saying a word. Stephanie looked the woman up and down, trying to figure out what to do. She was also trying to figure out what crat lady meant. At first, she thought it was maybe a typo. But when she examined the animal the woman was petting a little closer, she figured it out.

  The animal that the woman was petting had eyes and paws like a cat, a long face like a rat, and a long tail with just a little hair on it. Stephanie realized that the animal was half cat, half rat. Hence the name, crat. She looked down at the crat, which seemed friendly enough, and smiled.

  “May I?” Stephanie asked, leaning down to pet the animal.

  “Sssssssssss!” the crat hissed.

  Stephanie jumped back. Larilda again looked up at her but didn't speak. She just kept petting her crat. Stephanie knew that she wasn't going to be able to do this by herself. She smiled at Larilda and backed away, starting to walk down the street toward the weaponsmith.

  “Hey Mitch!” Stephanie said and waved, seeing her friend up ahead.

  “You find the crazy woman?” he asked as they got closer.

  “I found a crazy woman,” Stephanie replied. “I tried talking to her but she just kept staring at me. She was petting a crat.”

  “A what?” Mitch asked.

  “You'll see. Come on!”

  Stephanie led Mitch down the street to where she ran into the crat lady. She was relieved to have someone else with her this time. Mitch couldn't help himself from checking out Stephanie from behind as she walked ahead of him. Though her character in Bloodfeast was an elf, the resemblance to the way she looked in real life was uncanny. He often fantasized about hooking up with her, but was too afraid to make a move.

  “Well that's strange,” Stephanie said as they returned to where she'd seen the crat lady. “She was right here a few minutes ago.”

  “I don't think she could've gotten far,” Mitch said. “Let's keep looking for her.”

  The two of them walked around, looking for the crazy crat lady. Stephanie looked over at Mitch as they walked and found the focused look on his face to be comforting.

  “Hey Mitch,” Stephanie said as they were walking. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course, Steph. You can ask me anything.”

  “Are you scared?”

  “Of what?” Mitch replied, knowing that whatever she meant, the answer was probably yes.

  “Of being trapped here in Bloodfeast. Of the possibility of never getting back to the real world. All of this. Alyssa doesn't seem to be too scared and Luke's having the time of his life here. What about you?”

  Mitch wanted to be honest with Stephanie and tell her that he's terrified, for all the reasons she mentioned and more. But he knew that would only make her worry more, so he did his best to comfort her.

  “I think we're all a little scared,” Mitch replied. “But we need to stay positive and focus on doing everything we can to get home. That being said, we all play Bloodfeast MMO because we enjoy playing it. Now that we're actually in the game, we should at least try to have some fun while we're here.”

  Stephanie didn't reply. She just looked up at Mitch and smiled. He smiled back and put his arm around her shoulder as they walked.

  “We're gonna be alright, Steph,” he said. “We'll get home.”

  They continued to walk around, exploring the area around the weaponsmith. His shop was located on a main road going through Lakewind. There were several side streets nearby, any of which the crat lady could've gone down. The two of them went down a few side streets, looking for her. They didn't find the crat lady, but eventually they did run into the other two.

  “Hey!” Alyssa said, Luke walking next to her. “There you guys are. You find her?”

  “Maybe,” Stephanie said and explained her encounter with the crazy crat lady.

  “She's gotta still be around here somewhere,” Luke said. “Let's keep looking.”

  The four of them walked around all morning, talking to players and NPCs alike, looking for the elusive crat lady. Just when they were getting frustrated, about to head back to the tavern to grab some lunch, Stephanie's face lit up and she pointed down a small path that branched off from the road.

  “There she is!”

  They headed down the path, eager to talk with the strange woman. Alyssa caught Luke reaching for his sword out of the corner of her eye. She looked him in the eyes and shook her head, no. Reluctantly, he relaxed his arms and kept walking.

  “Hi there!” Alyssa said as they approached the woman.

  The crazy crat lady was leaning against a tree, petting a large crat that she held in her arms. Her long, wavy grey hair blowed gently in the wind. Like before, she didn't say a word. She just stood there, looking at the four friends.

  “This is weird,” Stephanie said.

  “What?” Mitch asked.

  “This is definitely her, but she's wearing a different sweater. And that's definitely a different crat that she's petting.”

  “Hi!” Mitch said to the woman, trying again. “We're hoping you can tell us about the Orb of Displacement.”

  Her face lit up and she looked like she was about to talk but, again, said nothing.

  “I'll get her to talk,” Luke said and walked right up to the crat lady. He put his massive hands on her shoulders, shook her, and yelled, “Tell us where to find the Orb of Displacement right now or I'm gonna kill you and your fucking cat.”

  “Crat,” Mitch corrected.

  “And you can't kill her,” Alyssa further corrected. “She's an NPC in a town.”

  Luke's threat didn't have any effect on the woman. She just continued to stand there, petting her crat.

  “Maybe we should come back tonight,” Stephanie said.

 
“What? Why?” Alyssa asked.

  “The halfling in the tavern said he ran into her the other night. Maybe she only talks at night.”

  “Seems unlikely,” Luke said, “but I can't think of a better course of action. Let's keep exploring the town and we'll come back after dark.”