The morning light filtered through the curtains, casting a soft glow on my sister’s bedroom. I stood there, my heart pounding, staring at the reflection in the mirror. My sister’s pink sundress clung to my slender frame, the fabric smooth against my skin. I had always been drawn to her clothes, to the way they made me feel… different. Not like Taylor, the boy. But like someone else. Someone I couldn’t quite name yet.

A group of people wake up in a video game world and are forced to work together to survive and find out how to escape.

It’s time for some answers.

Chapter 22 recap.

She’s had enough rest, I think, watching Lorien’s confused but slowly softening expression. The tension in his body has eased, and his mind is clear again. Time to let her deal with this.

Chapter 2: Questions

Chapter 13: Facing the Music

The afternoon sun blazed down, shimmering off the surface of the pool as Yuqi floated lazily on her back, trying to relax. The water was cool and inviting, a stark contrast to the heat of the day. Kelly swam laps nearby, occasionally splashing Yuqi for no reason other than to be annoying. The day had been quiet, the kind of peace Yuqi knew wouldn’t last forever.

This is an alternate take on Dawning... Or How I Survived a Plane Crash, Sort Of which is the same up to the kiss. If you have just read that story, you can skip down three or four pages (to “kiss a boy”) and pick up how this version goes.

The darkness never changes, but sometimes it smells different. After 400 years, whether my eyes are open or closed matters because it’s how I communicate. One if by land, two if I see….

CHAPTER 65
My mouth was sticky the next morning, my head still fuzzy. I could still remember most of it though, as the pictures were shown, more wine poured and a messy bout of tears was resolved in the old, old way. Maz looked up at me, bleary-eyed, and lifted a sheet to her nose with a wince.

“Which of us spilled the red on the dooner?”

“No idea. Won’t need a dry clean for a while. Stain’s there to stay, I think. I’ll stick the kettle on, and then we can strip the bed”

Her smile up at me was a little fragile, but she nodded.

“Good job we’re both off today”

“I think she knew there was nothing for you here. Not as a man, but even less as a woman, if that’s how you decided to live.” When I didn’t meet his eyes or say anything, he asked, softly, “Was she wrong?”

In a society controlled by the oppressive Imperium, Curtis finds himself entangled in a web of secrets and sacrifices. As he navigates the treacherous landscape of deceit and loyalty, he is faced with a series of impossible choices as he tries to find the right path forward.

Maria snuggles against Grace and pulls Hawk’s arm closer to her body. She felt safer sleeping between both women. After everything that was done to her by the human traffickers that brought her up from Brazil. She wanted to feel safe again.

She buries her face against Grace’s back and shivers. She feels Hawk’s naked body press against her back, sandwiching her between the two naked women. She starts to relax and slowly fall back to sleep. She felt warm and safe between the two women that saved her from a life of sexual slavery.