Chapter Twenty - Ruffians, thugs, poison ivy, quicksand, cannibals and snakes, the plague!
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Monster location announcement. Goblins have again taken camp near William Rathborne Memorial. Recommended group level: 5
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Monster location announcement. The old troll lair at Transporter Bridge has attracted ghouls. Recommended group level: 10
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Monster location announcement: The imps near Penny Lane have multiplied. Recommended group level: 10
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Monster location announcement. Giant rats have been spotted in the fields south of Hale. Recommended group level: 1
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Monster location announcement. Anfield Cemetery has attracted grave robbers. Recommended group level: 3
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Monster location announcement. A siren has taken a liking to Crosby Beach. Recommended group level: 5 (convincing her to leave) or 30 (killing her)
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Quest announcement. There are rumours about succubi and vampires hunting around city centre. A reward has been posted. Recommended group level: 20 (investigation), 80 (extermination)
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Quest announcement. Liverpool lacks an adventurerâs guild. Find a suitable central location and funding to establish one. (NPC staff is available for hire.) Recommended group level: n/a
âHey, new quests!â Geriâs squealing woke me, and judging from the movement in bed, the others, too. âCheck it out, thereâre way more than yesterday. Cool.â
âThe levels seem more reasonable,â Samantha said, her eyes still closed. âShould we do that level 20 one?â
âAnother level 20? Iâm not sure Iâm fully healed from the last one,â I moaned, then opened my own notifications to look for the quests. âOh, itâs just an investigation. Thatâs doable.â
Samantha started giggling uncontrollably. We all looked at her, trying to see what was so funny. Between giggles, she managed to force out the words, âread the textâ.
I did. Oh, shit. Was that what my dream had warned about?
âThat isâŠnot funny,â Livia said. âSeems we are officially on the menu now.â
âThis also looks like there are more players out there now,â I remarked. âMore quests and really low levels at that. One, three, five, fiveâŠâ
âWhat levels are you guys anyway?â Geri asked. âThat troll was level 20, and it didnât look like you had a long drawn-out fight there.â
Our group level had been 11 after the troll fight, but now that Alessandra had dropped out, we were down to 9. I threw an invitation at Geri, who accepted it nearly instantly, which brought our level up to 14. Oh, my. Starting bonus for vampires?
âIgnore those levels for a sec. Geri, what were you thinking engaging a level 20 target alone?â I said.
âSuicide by troll,â she said in a tone that was more casual than talking about the weather by several degrees. The room fell silent enough for me to hear heartbeats.
What do you say to someone who just attempted, no, succeeded in committing suicide? I wanted to ask all kinds of questions, butâŠ
âWhy?â Samantha broke the silence. âI mean, the underlying problem, not why you went through with it.â
âI wanted to show my âmotherâ she had no control over my life,â Geri said. âWhich is utterly bonkers, I see that now. I have no idea how I thought that would be a good idea, so I guess whatever was wrong with my head is fixed now?â
âSo we donât need to find you a therapist?â Livia asked. âI know a good one.â
Geri was quiet for a moment. âKeep me under observation,â she then said. âIâve done some idiotic shit, but me seeing that it was idiotic is a good sign, isnât it?â
âDonât look at me,â I said. âI have not the slightest. My therapy is eating out Livia.â
âSheâs good at therapy,â Livia said drily.
âIâm a bit peckish,â Geri said with a twinkle in her eyes. âCan I try that therapy?â
âLetâs see,â Livia said in a drawn-out way. âWhen you were still alive, do you remember what the very first thing you had to do in the morning after waking up was?â
âRub one off?â Geri answered without pause, then backpedalled quickly as she saw Liviaâs mood waver. âOk, ok, go pee. Iâm not that air-headed.â
Livia and Samantha took off, but I stayed behind. The bathroom was small, and my bladder didnât need emptying yet since I did that earlier.
âI just do that,â Geri said in a low voice, âso mom sees a girly little thing and leaves me alone.â
âItâs ok,â I comforted her. âYouâre still a teenager; you can sound like one if you want. Liviaâs just concerned about turning you into what you are. We changed you in ways we canât even see as we didnât know you before, and we had no chance to ask you for permission.â
âOh? Right. Was I a sex maniac before you made me one, or a nun? Whatâs your guess?â
âMmmh, thatâs hard.â
âGuess.â
âI would say you talked like the greatest whore this side of the Thames, but you had maybe two or three partners at most. Howâs that?â
âWay off. I talked like the greatest whore this side of the Mersey, and I only had one partner, and that occasion only counts with some goodwill.â
âOnly one? That makes me question what I assumed about that picture of you with LiviaâŠâ
âYes, that was the one time. Isnât it crazy?â
âIt is. And considering when that wasâŠâ I stopped, the maths falling into place too easily. I remembered the earrings Livia had in that picture. They now sat safely in my cheap jewellery box since Livia had gifted them to me at the end of our first summer. âRemember me,â she had said. That was five years ago, and Geri had turned eighteen last month.
âDonât kill her,â Geri said, only half serious. âI started it.â
âSo what? With that age gap, âI started itâ doesnât count for shit.â
âOh, bull. How small must the gap be for you to be ok with it? Not everyone is months apart. Itâs not like she was an adult either.â
âThatâs the only reason Iâm not storming off right now,â I said. âI still donât like itâcrossing the âteenâ borderâbut as you said, itâs your decision. Iâm not your,â I nearly said âMomâ, âDad.â
âDad was fine with it,â Geri said.
âI doubt that.â
âAfter he read me the riot act and grilled me for three hours to see if there was even a tiny bit of coercion involved.â
âThatâs not being fine; thatâs not alienating oneâs daughter. He is too smart to push you into rebelling. But kudos for telling him. That was a wise decision.â
âNope. It was a rash one. I wanted to pit him against Momâs decision not to let me visit him at work again. It had the opposite effect. He never argued for it again.â
âDecisions can be wise even when made for the wrong reason. Like the time, I was too lazy at work to make a new network cable. I instead used one that was way too long and bundled it up inside the rack.â
âWhat happened?â
âTwo months later, we had to move that server, but to shut it down, someone would have had to come in on Sunday in the middle of the night. People were quite happy when we noticed the cable was long enough to move it without disconnecting it.â
âCorrect me if Iâm wrong, but arenât network cables kinda, I mean, not an issue to unplug quickly?â
âHuh, you know your stuff. Yes, normally, you can simply pull the cable for a couple of seconds with nobody noticing. But not when thereâs tamper protection active on it. The switch would have locked that port the instant the connection was dropped. Reconnecting would have taken at least 20, more like 30 seconds, even with someone on standby in the admin console. Thatâd been too long for that server.â
âNo redundant connection?â
âOh, our little arts major really is a bit wrangler? For the primary connection, it had that, and there we just unplugged them one after the other. But not on the management network, and there it would have interrupted the heartbeat and caused a failover to the secondary location. Thatâs a 3-minute process, and it can lead to data loss when both servers are active at the same time.â
âSounds like a design error to me. When that heartbeatâs so important, why isnât it redundant, too?â
âOh, it is. Even triple redundant in a way, over both primaries and the management. But the same requirements that mandated the tamper-proof connection also said it had to fail over on the first loss. They sacrificed stability for safety.â
âCheap, good, fastâpick any two?â
âIndeed.â
âBathroomâs free,â Samantha announced, walking in naked. âJane, can I borrowââ
âSure, just grab anything that fits.â
âThatâs not a restriction. We have the same size in everything.â
âLiviaâs stuff is there too.â
âTouchĂ©. And thanks. Iâll head home later to pack some things. I get the feeling I wonât be using my own bed often for a while.â
âI wonât argue with that feeling. Ok, come on, Geri, Iâll show you the little girlsâ shower.â
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I had been concerned about what to do with Geri; she had a stature that wasnât really compatible with neither me and Samantha nor Livia, but Greg again had shown he was at least as much brain as muscle and had dropped off a suitcase with her stuff earlier. It was a bit of a mixed bag, as what she had in her room at his place wasnât a wide selection nor really up-to-dateâhe only had her one weekend a month, which meant she could easily bring that single change of clothes she neededâbut it at least was something of her own.
âWant to head over to your momâs place to grab something less, um, early-teen-ish?â I asked her during breakfast.
âNo way,â she said. âIâll not set foot into that place ever again if I can avoid it. And whatâs wrong with these panties? Theyâre cute!â
âThey are so old that I remember them,â Livia said. âIs it really the same pair? You have narrow hips, but you must have grown since then.â
âWow, you do remember! Yes, it is. And yes, Iâve grown, but not much. They were a bit big back then and are a bit tight now. But to be fair, they wouldnât have fit a day ago. I lost a couple of pounds to the trollâs stomach.â
Right, her remaining clothes had looked a bit loose on her. Seemed like regrowing a leg needed to pull mass from somewhere, even with plenty of magic doing the hard lifting. As if to concur, her stomach grumbled. Good that we were eatingâŠfood. Oops, that wouldnât do anything for her.
I looked at her and saw a red shimmer in her eyes. That must be the first sign of vampire hunger, I thought. âGeri, what do you want for breakfast?â I asked.
She looked at me questioningly, lifting her bowl, as if to say, âHey, Iâm already eating?â
âRemember that that wonât do anything for you,â I said. âBlood, souls, sex, magic and life, only.â
âOh, right. Then thatâd be sex, I guess. No victims for the others hereâŠâ
I shrugged. May as well. âYou can have a bit of my blood if you like. I have a pretty good regeneration.â I held out my wrist, just to demonstrate. Geriâs eyes lit up fully red, and she grabbed my arm with both hands, then sank her teeth into it without further ado.
It hurt for a moment, my skin being pierced with great force, but then a soothing warm spread from there. It was soooo niceâŠplease donât stop. My free hand found its way between my legs and started massaging, filling the warmness with pleasure. My breath got short, going ragged between jolts of pleasure. âYes, yes! More!â I convulsed with an orgasm like I had never felt before, hoping it would never end.
Then it stopped as Geri pulled her teeth out of my yellow skin. Yellow? Had I lost control over my glamour? I tried reengaging it, but couldnât find the energy inside me. But I wanted more, so I leaned over, grabbed her head and kissed her deeply. The coppery taste of blood, my own blood, filled my mouth and soothed my desire.
A gentle pull at my shoulder dragged me off of Geri. âThatâs enough,â Samantha said into my ear. I turned my head and smiled at her. âBut itâs so goodâŠâ
âHigh like a kite, if you ask me,â Livia said. Who was she talking about? Sam had such pretty eyes, and her mouth, how did it taste? I needed to find out, so I kissed her, too.
âLet her, itâs fine,â Livia said. Of course, itâs fine. Sheâs mine, just like the others. I could taste her any time I wanted. I could grab her down there, at the nice place, if I wanted. So I did.
That made her melt into me, like a piece of butter melts into toast. I pushed a finger in, making her gasp. She was so cute when she was gasping, so I added a second one and spread that good feeling to her.
âFuck, theyâre so sexy that way,â Livia said. My Livia! I liked it when she liked me, So I kissed Sam harder. I felt hands sneak up onto my body from behindâyes, my ladies, pleasure me!âand saw Livia taking position behind Sam. Her hands showed up under Samâs shirt, caressing her breasts like Geriâs hands were doing to mine. Sam moaned into my mouth, sending tendrils of pleasure through me.
Those tendrils combined with more tendrils coming up through my arms and my lips, twisting together into a strong rope. Then, that rope wanted to flow out of me through my breasts. No! Itâs mine! I grabbed it, willing it to stay with me. Youâre mine, all mine. The rope bent and frayed, but I grabbed harder. Come here, my tasty, come into me. I sucked at it, its heavenly taste flowing into me.
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Skill gained. âSexual energy absorption (reality altering)â Level 1.
I wiped away the annoying notification and concentrated on making Sam produce more and more of those tasty tendrils. They now flowed easier together, but that tugging in my breasts was still there. My Geri wanted some table scraps. She was a good girl, so I let her have some morsels, I was sated anyway, filled up to the top. Oh, that was nice, too. The rope flowing out my nipples and into her hands was such a nice, ahh, Iâm coming!
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Iâd say I didnât know how long it was until my mind cleared and I came to again, but there was a clock in the kitchen. Our little âletâs get Geri a quick breakfastâ session had takenâif you count the time we slept in a huddle afterwardsâa bit over two and a half hours.
I wasnât the only one stirring, so I asked into the room, âEveryoneâs ok?â
âFine,â Livia.
âSore for days,â Samantha.
âThat was great,â Geri.
âIâm scarred for life from seeing that,â Gamma.
I looked up to see Gamma standing in the doorway in a crop top and a mini skirt, showing off her scarred body. âHi GaâŠCindy, how was your night?â
âBoring, to be honest. You tired out my poor Lessie so much, I had to carry her to bed after just two romps. But we went shopping this morning,â she swirled, which showed off her barely existing panties. âIsnât it cute?â
âMore indecent than cute, if I had to be honest,â Samantha remarked. âSuits you.â
âI like it,â Geri said. âHi, Iâm Geri.â She waved.
âHi, Iâm Cindy, but I go by Gamma, like that Greek letter, with my friends. Iâm these guysâ backend support. You know, sorting character sheets, calling in the healer when needed, such stuff. Just donât expect me on the frontlines, otherwise, I probably can help.â
âHuh! Why does it say I canât add a âsystem AIâ to my friend list?â
Gamma froze, and a second later time joined her as I opened my menu. That was bad. What toâŠOh, actually, this was easy. I exited again.
âBecause whoever designed this slow start has messed up. They dropped us a couple of AI NPCs to help along but never integrated them into the system properly. Just donât talk about it where she can hear it; her brain fogs up then,â I bullshitted. Gamma standing there with her mouth open helped my story, but it still had holes without end.
âMakes sense. Sorry for blabbing,â Geri said.
âNothing to be sorry about, we didnât warn youââ
ââsuch stuff. Just donât expect me on the frontlines, otherwise, I probably can help.â
âUm, ok, thank you.â
âHappy to help. And by the way, this flat has two perfectly serviceable beds, although one is mine. You donât need to use the kitchen floor. Arenât those tiles a bit hard and cold to fuck on?â
âItâs borderline for me,â Samantha said. âAnd Iâm the squishiest one. So no, this is fine.â
âThat wasnât a real question, Sam. It was a subtle hint for yâall to get your asses in gear and tackle a quest. You donât want to fall behind on your second day, do you?â Gamma really leaned into her AI support role with that one, now that we had a cover story for that.
âGood idea,â I said. âIs there a reward for finding the vampire?â
âLet me see,â Gamma said. âNo. Being able to advance the quest into extermination is the whole reward. But I can accept the quest for you and take it off the board if you want?â
âDo it,â we said together.
âDone.â
Chapters
- Prologue
- Chapter One - Liverpool Girl
- Chapter Two - What is Love?
- Chapter Three - Strawberry Fields
- Chapter Four - Livia all along
- Interlude One
- Chapter Five - Who you gonna call?
- Chapter Six - Digging Deep
- Chapter Seven - Tall Dark Stranger
- Interlude Two
- Chapter Eight - Theme FromâŠ
- Chapter Nine - Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting
- Interlude Three
- Chapter Ten - Material Girl
- Chapter Eleven - Candy Shop
- Chapter Twelve - Never gonna give you up
- Interlude Four
- Chapter Thirteen - Tubthumper
- Chapter Fourteen - Baby, donât hurt me
- Chapter Fifteen - And frolicked in the autumn mist
- Chapter Sixteen - I ain't dumb, she my Tweedledee
- Chapter Seventeen - No time for losers
- Chapter Eighteen - Got a black magic NPC
- Chapter Nineteen - Call my name and save me from the dark
- Interlude Five
- Chapter Twenty - Ruffians, thugs, poison ivy, quicksand, cannibals and snakes, the plague!
- Chapter Twenty-One - In the loudest storm, we can be so proud
- Chapter Twenty-Two - And I've been working like a dog
- Chapter Twenty-Three - Let them stay home and comment on the internet
- Chapter Twenty-Four - We'll find a pond, we'll find a puddle
- Interlude Six
- Chapter Twenty-Five - Knee deep in the hoopla
- Chapter Twenty-Six - There beneath the blue suburban skies
- Bonus Chapter - Down the Rabbit Hole
- Chapter Twenty-Eight - I keep your secrets, cross my heart to die
- Chapter Twenty-Nine - Fight for Your Right
- Interlude Seven
- Chapter Thirty - I say, "High", you say, "Low"
- Chapter Thirty-One - Eight Days A Week
- Chapter Thirty-Two - Locked you away behind cast iron doors
- Chapter Thirty-Three - Just as mother-less birds fly high
- Interlude Eight
- Chapter Thirty-Four - Come join the fun, it's a merry-go-round
- Chapter Thirty-Five - Silly people run around
- Chapter Thirty-Six - Can You Dig It?
- Chapter Thirty-Seven - Meanwhile
- Chapter Thirty-Eight - Out Of The Dark
- Chapter Thirty-Nine - Meanwhile (2)
- Bonus Chapter - Charlie and the Player Factory
- Chapter Forty - ç§ćŻæăĄăăăȘ çœȘăæăăă
- Interlude Nine
- Chapter Forty-One - El Baile de los Pajaritos
- Chapter Forty-Two - æăăäșșćźăć䞥æă«æăŁăŠăăŻă
- Chapter Forty-Three - Let it be
- Bonus Chapter - The Ruined Girl