Everyone is the hero of their own story. In a quest for honor, hot women conquests and—Oh my god, who am I kidding? This is a story about how someone fucked up. That's right. I'm talking about you, Seth. I'm still salty that Kitty brought cake and I never got to eat it.

In the spur of the moment decision—aka when everyone else decided to invade on my visit with Kitty because they were bored—we decided to play a night of DnD. Gabby, Ayah, Lorraine, and Seth took up the floor on the opposite side of the table. The basement was well lit, with a mini fridge, a sofa that me, Kitty, and Wei claimed, and a small coffee table covered in maps.

I swallowed the bite of homemade pizza that was so goddamn good. "Amazing pizza made by the best woman here." Leaning forward I kissed her neck. The light scent of vanilla on her skin made her almost irresistible. Fuck she was hot. While I liked seeing our friends, there had been other plans for the evening.

Kitty flushed, but her dark brown eyes were gleaming. "Thank you, Nia-love."

Gagging, Ayah rolled her eyes. "Get a room."

A smirk pulled across my lips. "This is our room, kid, you were the one who invaded it, now you can suffer the consequences." I pulled Kitty in and planted a kiss on her lips.

"Nia!" Kitty scolded, pulling away, but she didn't move back, her lips part as if she expected more. The way her long-sleeved sweater dress hugged her body was tempting, but, even if I wanted to be a shit I wasn't about to traumatize the child.

I booped Kitty's nose and got up to get more pizza. There were two more pieces left on the main plate, so I took the whole thing. No need to leave one slice so that everyone feels guilty and ends up wasting it because they don't want to take the last piece.

"Oh no," Seth said, patting the pocket of his very ugly Hawaiian shirt.

"What do you mean oh no?" Gabby asked, adjusting her glasses and looking up at him with weariness.

Seth put his finger through a hole in his pocket, wiggling it. "The dice must've fallen out on my way here, I need to get another one."

"If you had listened to my fashion sense you wouldn't have dropped the dice," Ayah grumbled. "Hoodies are superior to your stupid dad shirts."

"How's the boba?" Kitty asked, putting her elbows on her knees. "Wei, what do you think?"

'I think that pose is way too hot and against the rules.' Eating my pizza while leaning against a pillar I shamelessly stared. How the hell did I end up with a ten?

"It's good, Kitty," Wei said, taking another sip of the drink in her hand.

"I don't like boba." Gabby held up the cup in a salesmen typeway. "But it looks pretty. Now—" she narrowed her gaze. "You owe us a dice. Go get  ."

"It's snowing," Seth whined.

"Should have thought about that before you wore a shirt with holes in the pockets—oh wait, you don't think, sorry, forgot." Gabby smiled, a teasing lilt to her words. "I should know better than to trust the only person in the room with a penis."

Seth laughed, setting his character sheet on the table. "I prefer the term mighty sword."

Everyone groaned. "Ew, Seth."

"It's fine, I'll go get some," Seth said, getting up and leaving the basement.

We should have known better than to trust him. After all, he got in fights with people at Starbucks and lies to everyone so—But he was the one who lost it. It made sense that he would have to get another. After all, how hard can it be to buy a D20? Gabby had provided everything else.

After finishing my pizza, I flopped back onto the love seat between Kitty and Wei. Stretching my arms above my head, I hung one around Kitty's shoulders on the way down. She looked over at me with a content smile and leaned against me. God, she was everything I'd dreamt of and more.

"Is everyone done filling out their character profiles?" Gabby asked, rubbing her hands together and cackling.

"I haven't started mine," I stated, picking up the paper. "What do you think I should be, Kitty?"

She shrugged. "Whatever you want, it's fantasy so—"

"If I was a centaur, you'd have to ride me." I wiggled my brows as she elbowed me in the ribs playfully. "Would also have a nice, big, firm ass."

"That's called a haunch—" Ayah corrected.

"Pffft," I waved my hand. "Haunch, ass, same thing."

"No it's not."

"The muscular area around where the shit comes out is the ass, simple as that."

Ayah face-palmed.

Everyone handed in their sheets not long after that. Seth still wasn't back yet. I would be concerned if I didn't have a hunch he got lost. My bets on him knocking on the wrong door and wondering why no one is answering. I admit I had trouble finding Kitty's house the first time since most of the houses in the area look the same. Might as well give the description 'it has a door' as the way to find it.

A mischievous glint flashed in Gabby's light-blue eyes as she gathered the papers, reading what everyone had written. She slammed them down dramatically, picking up a candle and holding it beneath her face to cast an eerie glow. "It's nearly time for the blood to splatter the ground as the dice deny's your characters success. I can't wait to make everyone miserable. Mwuahaha."

"Call down there edge lord. Who the fuck gave you a candle? Who trusted the pyro with fire?" I asked, raising a brow.

Ayah and Gabby proceeded to gather around the candle like a secretive coven, whispering about gory shit while they brushed their hands through the flames. Lorraine joined in on the talk but didn't play with the fire.

Kids. I shook my head. "Just don't light the house."

Gabby sneered. "No promises."

"What if our characters were to just—not die? Can't they be happy?" Wei asked, taking a long sip from her boba.

Kitty nodded in agreement. "Real life can be hard enough, it's nice to have fictional characters find happiness."

"Let them suffer until they are left with nothing but the lingering remains of their ripped out entrails," Lorraine said, an evil smile twitching at the edges of her lips. Her, Gabby, and Ayah high-fived.

Ah, gore talk. As expected from those three. Anyone not in our group would probably find it odd, but between my job and how much I've talked to these people, I'm desensitized to what weird and messed up means.

"For those who haven't played, let's cover the basic rules." Gabby picked up a stack of papers, and adjusted her glasses before throwing the paper into the air. "There are no existing rules. I am your DM, dictator, and supreme leader, you are at my mercy."

I smirked, letting out a snort. "Kinky."

A sharp laugh left Gabby's lips. "Don't make me step on you, Nia."

"I'm not stopping you."

Kitty shook her head. "No one is stepping on Nia-love."

A clattering sounded from the stairs. I looked up to see Seth trip over himself. He let out a yelp, falling on his ass. Laughter broke out through the room.

"Pffft. What are you doing dumbass?" I asked. "Trying to fly?"

"Don't laugh at me!" He cried, crossing his arms and sticking out his lip like the childish man he was. Boy might be more accurate. Don't know if I should call Seth a man, might go to his head.

Everyone laughed harder.

"Did you get the dice?" Gabby asked, biting her lip to keep from smiling as she held out her hand.

Seth nodded, using the railing to help himself stand up. He limped over to the table, starting to dig through his pocket.

"Now, this isn't the traditional, but I'm going to put a character for myself in too," Gabby stated, laying down a paper with a small dragon on it. "More for comedic reasons than anything else."

I shrugged. "Whatever you need to do, is everyone ready to play?"

Seth took the dice out of his pocket and set it on the table. The numbers each glowed a different color, while the general structure was a very old looking wood.

What the fuck? Did Seth really come to Canada to break the bank on a dice? Not that this behavior would be out of character. He tended to spend money on a lot of stupid shit—"How much did you spend on the fucken die?"

Something seemed off about it. The vibes around it triggered my fight or flight response, but that could have just as easily been the normal feelings of anxiety from visiting the woman I care about, right?

Right?

"Everything okay, Nia-love?" Kitty asked, looking up with her damn beautiful eyes.

For a moment, I couldn't form words. Pretty women have a tendency to do that to me. "Y—yes. Fine." I reached up with my brown hand and tucked her blonde hair behind her ear. "I'm fine." It was said more as an assurance to me than it was to her. "Let's play." 'So everyone will leave and we can have time to. . . If Kitty will still want to after this, that is.'

Gabby passed the dice to me first. "Alright, everyone roll for health points. I'm going to be nice and let you roll the d20 for it. Totally not just because this dice is cooler and makes mine look like a failed kindergarten project."

A subtle, bell-like ring filled the room with each tumble of the dice. No one else seemed to notice. Were those sparks? I adjusted my glasses to make sure I wasn't seeing things. "Seth, where did you get that dice?"

Seth looked up, his ginger hair falling into his eyes which he pushed away. "There was this homeless woman on that corner that looked cold. Originally I was just going to ignore her and walk on, but I felt like god was calling me to—"

"Bullshit."

He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine. She started talking to me about her life story and I felt bad, so I gave her some cash and she gave me the dice."

Gabby clapped her hands together, grabbing everyone's attention. It seemed she either didn't hear what Seth said or didn't care. The ringing of the dice continued even now that it wasn't moving, like there was something alive inside of it. I'd watched enough anime to know that was bad news, but hey, maybe I was just tired. It had been a long flight.

"In a world of dragons, faery's, mermaids, centaurs, heavy-topped women, and idiots who think wolves were a good fantasy creature to choose—"

"Hey! Rude."

"No interruptions, Seth." A short staring contest ensued. Seth caved. What a coward.

He grumbled. "But wolves are cute."

"Enough about the wolves, pet," Lorraine said, patting his shoulder. "No one gives a shit about your stupid wolves."

Gabby slammed her hands dramatically on the table, causing Seth's piece to fall over. "What did I say about interruptions?"

Rolling his eyes, Seth apologized under his breath.

"Now." She dusted her hands. "Where was I? Oh yes. A group of miscreets that had the unfortunate circumstances of working together were dropped off on this island as punishment for their crimes. The goal, survive three days, and someone will come back to save you. The problem—no one has ever made it out alive."

"A strange, short creature approaches you. They have the beak of a bird and the body of a dolphin with spider legs, what do you do?"

"Ask if they like my sword." Seth winked.

Gabby snorted. "They stare at you incredulously, very offended."

"Do they have anything useful that I could steal?" Ayah asked, leaning her elbows on the table.

Picking up the dice, Gabby flicked it towards her. "Roll for perception."

The glow surrounding the dice should have been an indicator that things were about to go to shit. Traveling across the table, followed by sparks of light, the dice stopped on a d20.

"That's a really good—"

An explosion shook the room, throwing everyone backwards.

"What the fuck, Seth! Who did you talk to?" I pulled Kitty behind the couch for shelter from the small explosions that continued to go off. "Was she a homeless serial killer?"

"I don't know!" Seth cried. "Ow! What the fuck."

I peeked around the edge of the couch. Blistering burns covered Seth's arm as he sucked in a sharp breath. "Shit, are you okay?"

Seth groaned. "Does it look like I'm okay?"

Sudden pain tore through my lower back, forcing me to the ground. "What the fuck."

"Nia-love—" Kitty's voice trembled from behind the couch. "Don't look back."

Gritting my teeth, I clenched my hands into fists. "You saying don't look back is going to make me—holy mother of fucken Jesus!" I had to touch it to confirm I wasn't seeing things. A very furry, white and brown patterned ass stood where mine should have been. "I have a horse ass, but at least I'm not a jackass."

"Is this really a time to be joking?" Ayah asked, her voice cracking.

Lifting my head, I watched claws extend from her fingertips while a woody substance traveled over her hands. Tiny rivulets of blood dripped from the exit wounds. "What's happening to me?"

The basement wavered in the way water does when disturbed, causing the creature Gabby had described earlier to appear in the corner. Waves splashed over my feet, retracting moments later before splashing again. An ungodly humidity and warmth that reminded me of home beat down from the air around us, fading what little remained of the basement to sand and forest.

"Kitty." I turned around to look at my girlfriend, almost falling over my spindly legs. "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."