Rafael stepped out of the shower after his swim. There was a good twenty minutes before school started, which was excellent. He hated feeling stressed about arriving late to school.

His phone went off, and he had to wonder how long that was going on. He thought he turned off all the alarms. At least it was before the pool opened, so no one had to suffer with listening to it in the locker room.

He shoved his shirt on, noticing that he had a shockingly large amount of missed calls. And a ton of texts. Rafael frowned, checking them, his frown disappearing into horror.

“Shit.” He grabbed the rest of his stuff and ran. He didn’t even check to see if he had everything. All he really needed was his bike and helmet.

Calling Hazel now. He texted that to the group messages, so they’d stop calling him. Everything else he stuffed into his backpack before climbing on his bike. He placed Hazel on speakerphone before putting the phone in the bike basket.

“Rafael?” Hazel asked. There was a panic in her voice Rafael yearned to calm.

“I’m on my bike, but I’m coming. South Gentry Street?”

“The police are here, trying to get me out of the car.”

“Do not get out of the car!” he shouted, wishing he had his own car. The sweat collecting on his back reminded him of his own cuts from the mythical world touching the real one.

“The ghoul is going crazy.” Hazel sounded terrified.

Rafael pedaled as fast as he could, the houses whizzing by. “I’ll get there. Don’t leave the car.”

He flew past the school, past the streets. A ghoul was after his girlfriend, and there was no way he would let that creature bite her.

Hazel’s car appeared into view, and he winced. The front was smashed against a tree, and the ghoul tried to split open the already cracked windshield. Rafael skidded to a stop, seeing a police car nearby.

“Who are you?” the policeman asked.

“Rafael Walker. Hazel’s my girlfriend,” he said, out of breath.

The ghoul spun around, staring right at Rafael. There was no wonder Hazel was panicking in the car. He hung up his phone, closed his eyes, and concentrated. Which was difficult, considering the officer kept talking to him.

Ezekiel collapsed to the ground next to him, and Rafael opened his eyes, seeing the officer staring at Rafael as though expecting an answer to a question he didn’t hear. The officer didn’t acknowledge Ezekiel at all. Right then, time froze.

Roll for initiative

Rafael rolled, surprised when it landed on a nat twenty. That’d be good.

As expected, options for first combat showed up, and he glanced through all his undead protection. He used sacred flame. He rolled the d8, and let out an annoyed breath as it landed on one. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

Time resumed, and Rafael again stared at the officer as Ezekiel stood up, clutching his medallion as he began a quiet prayer, pointing at the ghoul.

“Sorry, officer, did you… say something?” Rafael asked.

The ghoul shrieked, backing away from Ezekiel, and therefore, the car Hazel was hiding in. A burst of flames slammed into the ghoul. The creature was too far away to attack and looked more terrified of Ezekiel.

“Yeah,” the officer said. “I’m concerned about—”

Once again, time came to a standstill, and Rafael scanned the options. Would anyone else show up?

Rafael cast spiritual weapon before opting to use it as a bonus action. He rolled, but the d20 landed on a two. He tried to hold in his groan.

“—your girlfriend panicking. Perhaps from some—”

Rafael half listened. The ghoul did its best to shuffle away from Ezekiel as he conjured a bright light that formed into a book. Ezekiel tried throwing it at the ghoul, but it was too nervous that the book didn’t hit. The ghoul tried to swipe at Ezekiel, but the fear was too much, and he missed completely.

Rafael glanced back at the officer, who stared at him.

“Sorry, um, what was that?” Rafael asked.

The officer said nothing, because he was frozen in time. This was the worst way to have a conversation. Too many things were going on. He sighed, trying again with spiritual weapon. He rolled an eighteen, finally, and got a six. With a +2, he was happy to get that much damage on the ghoul, before optioning again to use sacred flame.

No dice showed up, which he assumed meant he wouldn’t get a hit. But at least he got a hit with the book.

“Your girlfriend might be—”

Rafael glanced again, seeing Ezekiel raise a hand to throw the book at the ghoul, who shrieked as it got smacked on the face. He tried hitting it with sacred flame next, but from sheer luck alone, the ghoul missed it.

“—can you call her?” the officer said.

Rafael tore his gaze from the fight, up at the officer, with the nametag Hendricks. The ghoul tried to swipe at Ezekiel, but he backed away, dodging the ghoul’s bite as well.

Rafael took the scene in. Another officer was trying to pry the doors open, and Hazel was in the back seat, watching Ezekiel with a flicker of hope.

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Rafael once again used sacred flame and the book. The book didn’t hit, but he got to roll for sacred flame. Five total wasn’t a lot, but the ghoul didn’t look too great.

A burst of white flames slammed into the ghoul, who shrieked again, and Rafael had to wonder where the others were. His phone was still vibrating like crazy, but no one showed up.

“So…” Officer Hendricks trailed off. Rafael again looked at the officer, feeling frustrated with himself. He could not for the life of him figure out how to follow this conversation. Too many time freezes, and too much battling an undead behind the officer for him to have a normal conversation. He would no doubt laugh about this later, but right now he struggled to remember what question the officer asked. “Wait… Rafael Walker?” the officer asked.

“Yes?”

Time froze again, and Rafael went with the same combination of spiritual weapon and sacred flame. He needed to deal as much damage as possible. Sacred flame was unsuccessful, but the book got a hit. He was pleased when it landed on a seven. That had to be good, even without the bonus.

“Yeah,” Officer Hendricks said. Ezekiel raised a hand and brought it down hard, the spine of the book caving in the ghoul’s head. It shrieked before falling over, dead, and he sighed in relief.

“Rafael Walker.” His gaze was torn between Ezekiel and the officer, but once the officer said his name, his gaze remained there. “Didn’t you used to hang out with Nick Larsen years ago?”

Rafael wasn’t sure how to take this statement, but since the ghoul was dead, it was easier to focus on Officer Hendricks. “Um…” Didn’t make him much better at conversations.

“Yeah. You’re the one that isn’t hanging out with him anymore, right?”

“I…guess so? Wait, how do you know Nick?” Rafael asked.

“Everyone on the force knows Nick. Need to monitor that troublemaker.”

“That’s… no. Nick’s fine. He doesn’t do that stuff anymore,” Rafael said.

Officer Hendricks grunted, but said nothing. Hazel opened the door, stumbling out. The officer trying to pry the door opened glanced up, shocked. Rafael used the valid distraction to break away from the conversation and run to her. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, saying nothing more than that. Rafael wrapped his arms around her, feeling her shuddering against him. He kept a hold of her. “It’s gone. It’s dead.” He kissed the top of her head.

“We’ve got to check for injuries, to be certain,” the other police officer said, straightening.

Rafael nodded, releasing Hazel and letting them go through the checks. Rafael rubbed his forehead as two hundred experience points tumbled into Ezekiel’s XP bar, bringing it to 2,360 points. That felt nice.

He pulled out his phone, scrolling through all the texts he missed. Once he assured them he got their messages, he forgot the rest of his friends entirely. Alejandra was talking about helping, ready to go, when Tyler told her to wait.

What? Why? Was Alejandra’s text.

Think about it.

Ezekiel’s a cleric.

Ghouls are undead.

He’ll wipe the floor with that creature, and he needs the XP.

Ezekiel’s got this.

Rafael glanced at Ezekiel. He tried to think of the cleric as wiping the floor with the ghoul. It sort of happened. Ezekiel still standing with full health had to mean something.

Rafael skimmed the rest of the texts, mostly ones of concern from Evelyn that Ezekiel wasn’t in great shape, huddling in a corner reading a book. Tyler asked about everyone’s XP, and he saw a variety of numbers. Princess Clarissa had 2,455. Milo had 2,620 points. Grizzizzik had 2,465, and Hraktar had 2,560. Rafael was surprised to see Milo with the most experience points. They all needed 2,700 points to reach level four, which Milo was eighty points away from.

If we can all get to level four before next week, that’d be awesome. Was Tyler’s latest reply.

Rafael texted quickly. 2,360 points for Ezekiel after taking care of the ghoul. How did Milo get so many? I thought Hraktar had more.

A few of them started to text as an ambulance pulled in to check Hazel. Rafael was worried about a possible concussion, but at least the ghoul was gone.

Milo’s been getting experience points for creating mana. It’s been nice. That was from Derek.

Really glad Ezekiel survived that. It was from Evelyn.

That ghoul isn’t the only one on the list. There should be two more. Keep an eye out. Tyler texted.

Rafael glanced around again, not seeing any more ghouls, though he saw Ezekiel on the ground, resting against the shade the car gave. He finally noticed what Evelyn was worried about. His cleric, at full hit points, had bags under his eyes and a far off look.

Alejandra pulled up behind them, the tension leaving her body. The two police officers were talking to Hazel as an ambulance worker checked her eyes. Rafael wanted to talk to Ezekiel. The cleric stared off into the distance, like he was recovering from something even though he never got hit.

“Do we have time to take him home?” Rafael asked as Alejandra ran to him.

“Hello to you, too,” Alejandra said.

He gave a sheepish grin. “Hi.”

She looked at Ezekiel, still resting against the side of Hazel’s car, holding his medallion as he took steady breaths. “Is he okay?”

Rafael wasn’t sure how to answer. He walked over to Ezekiel, holding out his hand. He wasn’t sure what the others saw with this, but they were busy making sure Hazel wasn’t injured. Ezekiel glanced up, seeing Rafael. He then took his hand to help himself up. “I’ll be fine. Once this lycanthropy gets out of me.”

Rafael nodded, keeping the usual fears from hitting him. All they had was a tooth of a tiger and a solid brick of silver that they had no way to pound into bits. The real test would be next Thursday, when they tried to steal something of Akshi’s. “It’ll get out.”

Rafael did not believe himself in the slightest, and Ezekiel didn’t catch it. He was too busy steadying his breathing.

“Speaking of which, if I can glimpse Akshi from a distance, I could deduce what I need from him,” Ezekiel said.

“That sounds like a great thing to do,” Alejandra said, glancing at Rafael.

Rafael studied his exhausted cleric. “You just fought a ghoul all by yourself. Give yourself the morning to rest from that. I agree it would be easier to know beforehand what we need to steal.”

Ezekiel nodded. “I like that plan.”

Alejandra and Ezekiel talked to each other quietly as Rafael walked over to Hazel. He kept an eye on any open spaces, to make sure there wasn’t another ghoul hanging around, but for the most part, he didn’t see one. Tyler’s warning was clear, though. There were two other ghouls out there. The two policemen were talking by their car.

Hazel smiled as she reached out and took his hand. Rafael took it, but also placed a hand around her shoulder. Hazel looked up at him, smiling. “I’ll be fine. You go to school.”

Rafael gave her an incredulous look. “No.”

She nodded. “Yes. Really. At this point, it’s nothing but paperwork and insurance. My mom’s on her way with everything, and you don’t need to stay.”

Rafael did not believe her, and it must have played on his face. “There might be other ghouls out there,” he whispered.

She just smiled, then kissed him. “Keep your phone on you this time. I’ll let you know if anything more comes up.”

“I appreciate your bravery,” Rafael said, the memory of her trembling all too recent. “But I’m going to stay.” He again glanced around where they were. “I can’t leave you alone right now.”

Hazel squeezed his hand. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Thank you. I’ll talk to my sister then be back.” He gave her a final kiss before walking over to Alejandra. He dropped his voice. “Take him home. Make sure Hraktar is near him. He needs to be surrounded by friends right now. Can you do that and get back to school in time?” Rafael glanced at the clock on his phone.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine,” Alejandra said.

He felt slightly better about his sister’s assurance than his girlfriend’s. Mostly because his sister could teleport a huge half-orc in her time of need. He nodded, even if he didn’t feel it.

“Fine. I hate all of this, but fine.”

Alejandra smiled, patting Rafael’s shoulder. “Thanks for believing in us.”

Rafael shook his head before returning to Hazel. She took his hand, and Rafael grabbed it, feeling like he was holding a lifeline. There was a chance Hazel could get hurt, and it was a chance Rafael was not willing to take.