Chapter 1 - New Beginnings

You Have Died.

Tal slammed his fist against the makeshift desk that spanned the whole length of his hospital bed. Granted, his version of slamming was little more than an exaggerated push. His slight frame had neither the muscle nor fat to execute anything remotely resembling a slam.

Bold ember letters softly illuminated the middle of his screen, reflecting his own gaunt expression back at him.

Tal leaned over his desk, rubbed his too-dry eyes for the umpteenth time and tried not to give in to his own intrusive thoughts. ‘I swear to god, if they keep me in here much longer, I’ll end it myself.’ He craved to leave this room of his. This grave-in-the-waiting.

Alas, he knew why he couldn’t. Complaining wasn’t going to fix anything, so he knew he just had to make do.

Escaping into another game’s reality was really the best thing he could manage. Not to mention it was a great way to escape from his parent’s incessant screaming matches. Of course, they tried to keep it down, at least when they were around him. But no matter their efforts, Tal could still hear them going rounds through his closed door.

The stress of a dying kid was enough to break up any marriage.

Tears coalesced in his eyes; he couldn’t stop the single drop slowly rolling down his cheek…It was all his fault. ‘Forget it…forget it…close your eyes…deep breaths, Tal, deep breaths.’

Tal returned his attention back to the glowing screen before him. It was his third death in this new game already; safe to say, his escape mechanism was failing him.

Valeria was impossibly hard. An array of hidden features and obscure mechanics unique to each individual made for a distinctive gaming experience. Not to mention the learning curve.

Despite its difficulty, it was all the craze these days and one of Tal’s final opportunities to have fun with his friends. They were just encouraging him to try to get through the beginner area so they could finally party up and play together. But unfortunately, his treatments seemed determined to ensure that never happened.

His friends wouldn’t stop talking about the damn game and how good it was. Valeria had been extensively marketed over the last few months, leaving gamers worldwide hyped for the launch date. These days, it seemed impossible to go an hour without hearing someone raving about it.

Where the game had come from and who had developed it was unknown. That only seemed to excite the public more, though. It certainly added to its publicity. Everyone loved a mystery.

Tal didn’t have much to say about the other circling conspiracy theories on the web. As far as he was concerned, they were all tinfoil hat mad-men. Besides, he hardly had time to read into any of it.

Regardless, Valeria spoke for itself. Anyone could tell it was something special within seconds of playing the game. Unsurprisingly, as soon as the game was released, it exploded into popularity, first through gaming circles and eventually, finding features amongst news headlines.

Unfortunately, Tal thought, it was just way too hard. For someone who was somewhat new to the whole gaming craze, he knew he would have been struggling even without his recent treatments.

Tal cursed under his breath at his ‘almost’ completion of the beginner area. He had been so, so close. At this stage, he hadn’t even been into the ‘open-world’ aspect of the game yet. It was infuriating, and yet, he couldn’t stop playing.

He had, however, gotten further than one of his friends. Though that wasn’t enough to make him feel even a sliver of satisfaction. He knew he was better than this. He could feel it. If only he wasn’t so bedridden.

His friends all tried their best to keep his spirits up. And they really helped. But there was only so much they could do. They knew he was terminal. Hell, these days, it seemed like everyone knew. ‘So much for getting a little privacy.’ He thought.

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His friends continued to try and bring a smile to his face, though. They would frequently gang up on James. Tal knew James was happy to bear the burden of their words in exchange for making his friend’s last few moments any better. He was a goofy guy but an unendingly kind soul.

James hadn’t even made it past the game’s first stage yet. That brought in many good laughs from the whole group. James refused to say a word. Clown reacting to any mention of his poor performance.

Luckily enough, however, the beginner area was forgiving and allowed for respawning. So it was no hardcore run where participants were forced to complete the beginner area in a single run. Tal thought that made up for the game’s inability to let him party up with his buddies to rip through each challenge together.

Nevertheless, Tal was exhausted, and his stomach was beginning to voice its assent in low rumblings. He could contact one of the nurses with a click of a button, but if he didn’t interrupt his parents, they would be yelling at each other all day. He had already ruined most of their life. Saving them from themselves was the least he could do.

With a heave that took more effort than it ever should, he managed to heft himself up and out of his bed. He placed his laptop on the side of the bed, doing his best to avoid looking at his painfully thin, now shaking arms. It was ok. He was used to it by now.

He cast a quick glance back towards his screen to view the time.

8:38 pm.

“Curse me and this stupid appetite….” Tal muttered. He had eaten earlier but found he couldn’t stomach much. It would be one of those nights where the gnawing hunger kept him awake. He would have to remain content with the small amounts he could manage to stomach.

But then he noticed the oddity. Something that stopped his musings dead in their tracks. His clock wasn’t moving. For some reason, the time was greyed out.

Tal made to move back to his computer. “God damn bugs just trying to make my life difficult.” He grumbled. “Can’t I get a break?”

In the bottom, right-hand corner, in the same amber colour as the still-lurking end game message, was a pulsing, indescribable, spherical mess of something...rotating in a slow swirl.

Tal's screen suddenly went black. Then his lights. Then his clock. Everything faded to black - until Tal was sitting alone in his small hospital room under cover of absolute darkness.

“Creepy...” He muttered with an accompanying shiver. ‘And when had it gotten so cold in here?’

He moved instinctively towards where he knew his laptop lay. A second passed, and then he stopped. His fingers had met only empty air.

‘Wasn’t it just right here? Screw this fumbling in the dark. I need some light.’ He thought as he strode to his light switch. One step turned to ten before he stopped, still finding nothing.

His heart lurched in his chest. He couldn’t suppress the shaking that crept its way into his legs.

That’s when the silence hit him harder than his treatments ever could. His pulse quickened. There was no yelling outside his door. No bustle of hospital staff. No slow beeping from all the medical gear crammed into his room.

‘It should be right here. Hell, I should have stubbed my toe by now. Where the hell is everything? What the hell is happening? I can’t have been that sleep-deprived. And the drugs shouldn’t be this strong just yet either…maybe I’m just dead. My version of heaven must be a little different.’

He didn’t feel dead. Yet, this was all certainly ringing of something distinctly other-worldly.

Tal’s pulse leapt under his skin as an insidious hissing suddenly began near him. Sweat beaded upon his forehead. The sound built, reverberating around the room. Then, it transformed into a final crackling crescendo, violently vibrating air against his skin.

He flicked his eyes around the room, trying to pinpoint the origin of the sound. ‘There!’ He mentally exclaimed as he laid his eyes upon a point in space that seemed to be stretching itself apart.

‘Now I know what to stay the hell away from. Not that I can see anything in this blasted room, anyway.’

A grey mist began to pour forth from the anomaly. Tal watched with wide eyes as it came in slowly. Then, it rushed forward like water from a broken dam, flooding the room with enough light that Tal could finally be sure he was far from home. Though where he was and how he got there was anyone’s guess. He looked towards the anomaly. It pulled itself inward, now consolidating into a dark cloaked figure.

On shaky legs, Tal moved away from the crackling and the strange shadowy shape. Something was very wrong. And Tal had absolutely no idea what he could do about it. This was beyond sleep deprivation.

“STEP FORWARD, CONTENDER!” The shadow boomed, flinging the beaded sweat from his forehead. “YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED.”

Tal’s heart pounded like a drum in his chest. Before he could think any further, a blue wave swept out from around the cloaked figure and instantly enveloped him. Tal’s racing pulse began to calm to a more reasonable pace. Suddenly, It didn’t seem like such a bad idea to listen to the strange man.

A small, reasonable voice in his head screamed in defiance against the commanding voice. No, I will absolutely not step the f**k forward thank you very much. And yet the impulsive, much larger part of him told that voice to get lost.

His life here was all but over. Whether it was some bizarre effect of all the drugs in his system or something else…it would be a welcome break from what the last few days of his life had turned into. And if this was indeed death…well, he had known he didn’t have long left anyway.

Tal made his choice and stepped forward. The world exploded into dazzling white light.