Above all else, Vince felt strangely numb as he stared at the game’s empty character selection screen. He disabled the implants and slowly brought himself out of Twilight and into reality, vibrant colours fading away into the dull grey of his bedroom. In a single moment, he’d lost his job, his passion and his friend. How? How had this slipped past him? He clenched his fists and his vision turned blurry from the tears welling in his eyes. Shill’s taunt echoed in his head. ‘I’ll lead them well in your absence,’ he’d said.

“How dare he?” Vince mumbled. “And how did I not see it? I should have known. You stupid, thick idiot!” He smacked his forehead with his hand half a dozen times. The pressure in his head grew and he fell to the floor with a groan. He tried to draw deep breaths and fight through the dizziness, but it was too much. He’d known Shill for a whole year, but he’d never have expected this betrayal. Did the man genuinely think he could replace Vince? Delusional. But the worst part... The bastard knew about Sophia. Vince himself had never told him. And by the man’s own words…

“Cecilia…” Vince stood and ran out of his apartment, slamming the door behind him. Outside, the freezing nightly rain beat against his face but did little to cool the anger inside. Between every splash of his boots on the wet pavement, the entire dusk was played out from start to finish. Being led to the dungeon, Shill staying behind intentionally, the necromancer and her curse. How could he have been so blind to it all? She didn’t kill him the first time because she wasn’t sure.

“Fucker!” Vince screamed as he ran, nearly bumping into a car as he crossed the street. He fell down and rolled on the pavement as the cars honked past him. Normally he’d ride a bus to Cecilia’s place, but he was in no state for that. So he simply ran until his legs burned and then some, pushing more weight into every anger-fueled step. He reached Cecilia’s front door panting, cold, and with a deep aching in his heart. Whether from tiredness or his thoughts, he couldn’t tell.

“Cecilia!” He held down the doorbell and yelled. “Let me in, quick!” There was no response. Vince checked his clock. The battle of dusk should be over by now. He sent her a text message and waited, all fidgety and anxious, but still, there was nothing. “Cecilia, it’s me!”

The door creaked open softly, then stopped with the clank of its chain. “What do you want, Vince?”

What was going on? She’d never done this before. The heavy feeling in his heart stung a little more. “Let me in, Cecilia. Shill fucked me over. He thinks he can take my place and he sold out to Gateway for it.” He inched to the side to see inside, only to find Cecilia with her cheeks all red and her eyes swollen. Dried tears streaked across her face.

“You fucked us all over first, Vince.” Cecilia took a shallow breath. “What were you thinking, openly humiliating Raisin in front of his staff?”

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That gave Vince pause. “No… Please tell me it’s not true. You knew about this? About Shill’s plan?”

“Not everything…” Cecilia shrank back a little. “He simply said that he’d fix this… All of it.”

And just like that, the dam that was holding back his anger broke. He slammed his hand against the door. “My God! Just what the fuck is going on? What’s there to fix?”

“You!” Cecilia snapped back. “You, Vince! Gateway docks our pay, you don’t care. We get made fun of in the media, you don’t give a rat’s ass.”

“They docked your pay? The money came through just fine for me, I didn’t know–”

“It’s not just that! The guild members complain about PvP, you don’t give a damn. You disregard anyone that even dares to disagree with you. In meetings, in reports, in battles. The moment someone opposes you, you just get mad and dismissive. It’s intolerable. And how much of a fool do you think it makes me feel, huh?” Cecilia started crying again, tears flowing down freely. “When I try to cover up after you… Say you didn’t mean it and that you’re just stressed. And when I try to make time for you… for us, only to have you say you can’t do the same? And yet you spend entire nights at the hospital by her side, doing fucking nothing.”

Hearing her yell that last word out caused a chill down Vince’s back. He widened his eyes. “So that’s what it is. You’re jealous. Even though you know that it was me that convinced her to get the implants. That I’m to blame for the infection that fucking ruined her brain.” He let out a dry laugh. “What should I do then, Cecilia? Let her die while we go out for cocktail nights with Gateway’s money?”

“Be honest for one damn moment of your life, that’s what you should do!” Cecilia bit her lower lip. “You never loved me like you loved her.”

Vince felt his jaw growing slack. “So you went and told Shill about her. You hated me so much that you wanted someone to teach me a lesson.” He paused and looked straight at her. “I guess you’re right. What’s there to love?”

“I hate you… I hate you!” Cecilia slammed the door shut. “I told you so many times.” Her crying voice reached him muffled. “Do you want me to beg for attention? For a bit of genuine love?”

Vince turned around and planted his back on the door. Perhaps she was right. Because even now, with his life falling apart around him, Vince thought about a way to cover Sophia’s bills and save her. How stupid was that? He looked up at the clouds and let the tears drip down the side of his face, mixing with the rain. Every time Vince found himself in a tough situation, he’d managed to find a way out, a solution no one else could see. But now, he felt like even that was taken from him.

“I don’t know, Cecilia.” He let his head sink down. “I don’t know.”