"I doubt you'll believe me, but if you want the full story..."

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Reminder: It's time for bed. Reminder: It's time for bed. Reminder...

The snap of the lid on the laptop echoed through the quiet room as my eyes crossed with the final edit for the day.

"Ziggy, shut off the alarm," I told my automated system.

As per my routine, my arms moved toward the ceiling, then down to my side. The deep breaths I took rarely cleared my head of all ‌the ideas swimming about.

My little fanfiction of the old video game was coming along well, and I had so much more in store for those characters. My fingers itched to go back to work, but I knew that my writing would suffer if I didn't get sleep. It happened far too often.

Glancing over at my bed renewed my joy of finding such an old piece of furniture for next to nothing on the local online market. They even delivered it. My original mattress fit like a glove, so nothing new to buy. Yeah!

My cat hated it, though. His hisses were full of anger each time he came into the room to distract me from writing. Mr. Puss loved to walk across my keyboard if I didn't pet him fast enough.

Before long, the silence and soft sheets lulled me into a half-dozed state, where my mind wandered to the next sequence of events in my story.

"Since I can't rest, neither can you."

The disembodied voice caused my heart to leap into my throat as my eyes flew open. My fear had me paralyzed—or maybe it was the spirit of the old woman standing beside the bed. Her long dark hair framed her pale face in an eerie way, while her long-sleeved, high-neck dress billowed out momentarily, as if there were wind in the room.

"Let's see how well you do within the veil of an altered universe."

Her eyes turned black as she laughed. The world around me suddenly spun, causing my head to pound—right before I seemed to fall out of bed. As I blinked and looked to where she stood, the apparition turned away with a chuckle and vanished, leaving me feeling cold and scared out of my wits.

It took a long moment to realize I was no longer in my bedroom, but surrounded by stone and mortar. As I looked at a distant doorway, it glitched into a wall, then back to a doorway, stunning my senses. When I glanced down, my green jammies were gone, and a black one-piece suit made of leather covered my body. A suit of armor placed to my right was the clue that I was in a castle, and the shield showed my reflection as I pulled myself into a kneeling position.

White hair and a black crown. I knew this character better than most.

I was Abril the Destroyer, Queen of the Underworld, in my favorite video game of all time, Mist and Shadows.

What the hell?

"My Queen, we have kidnapped the Princess of the Garden Realm, as you ordered."

I stole another glance at the shield as I raised my eyes to the voice. The cobalt blue around my irises looked fake, as it did in the game.

I'm the villain.

My brain determined it was a dream, but my fear knew differently, and my mind raced faster than I could ever run, probably the writer in me strategizing three steps ahead.

That bed! That cheap, delivered-for-free, obviously haunted bed!

I needed to play along.

Standing felt odd, as if my limbs worked differently. I slowly nodded to the oversized elf with large teeth and a smell that could knock a sane person out. With a simple motion of my hand, I waved him away.

My feet moved of their own accord, going to the doorway that I had spotted earlier. If this were my sitting room, then I would be on the third floor of the Black Castle, in the east wing.

Yup. Sitting room. 

With the geography noted, it was time to work through the storyline.

A touch around my ankles reminded me of the queen's pet cat, Daeva. "Are you well, my queen?"

The cat's voice stunned me for a moment. I had forgotten she could talk. Then another thought rang through–she betrayed the queen towards the end of the game. I couldn't trust her.

"Just thinking," I answered curtly and in a strange voice.

"As you say." She jumped onto a cushion on a wooden chest next to the far wall, facing the desk.

Breathe. Think!

A deep breath told me how tight this cool outfit was, and I wished I had this figure in real life.

Focus!

Let's see... Queen Abril kidnapped Princess Holly; we only saw the princess in snippets to gather background information, and the object of the game was to rescue her. The characters you could choose to play were her best friend, Gunnar, or the love interest, Blaze.

The storyline dictated she would have to marry whoever saved her, so most people who loved the game played the role of Blaze. He was also easier to handle with jumps and fights than the smaller Gunnar.

There were two different endings: in one, Blaze or Gunnar killed the evil queen, and in the other, she ran away, spouting curses and declaring she would one day return to cause havoc.

Will dying send me home? Or does the game just need to end?

"Are you sure there isn't anything wrong, my queen?"

I glanced at the cat before returning my gaze to the stone wall. "Still thinking," I barked out, hoping my tone would stop any more questions.

I needed to make sure Blaze saved the princess, because she would not want to marry Gunnar (even though he really was the better choice for a future king), with my butt leaving at the end.

I'm going to need help.

Wait! The programmers put in a demon I could summon, but I had to get the crystal amulet from my kidnapped victim, Princess Holly. This detail only came out if the player was hitting every milestone. It was the programmer's Plan B in case the user was getting too far, too fast.

And the demon was loyal to me in the game.

"Where did they put the little princess?" I asked as I turned fully toward Daeva.

"She's in the West Dungeon," the cat purred out as she jumped down. "Shall we pay her a visit?"

"We shall."

After several long corridors and a massive number of steps, I realized this body did not tire out like mine would. No huffing and puffing here. It probably didn't eat or sleep either.

Just like in the game, someone had chained the beautifully coiffed princess to a wall.

Seriously? No one looks that good after being kidnapped.

I stood a good six inches taller than Princess Holly, so I reached down and ripped the necklace from her throat. Without a word, I took the quickest path to the throne room. Once there, I didn't wait or think over the decision, but stood in the center, lifting the amulet over my head.

"I, Abril the Destroyer, summon you, Kerrin the Demon, to come to me."

Of course, there was fire and smoke, with a flash that would make the screen go completely red before going back to normal with two characters now in the chamber. I remembered there was some dialogue I needed to say, but—looking Kerrin up and down, my now presumably evil heart leaped with thoughts that she shouldn't have in a public game.

Damn, he looks even better close up. I may need to take him with me when I leave.

The demon strutted over and leaned into my personal space. His shoulder-length dark hair fell carelessly to the side, showing off his light brown eyes and chiseled cheekbones. He looked as if he had just stepped off the cover of a magazine. "And what would you like from me, my queen?"

The question had so many suggestions linked to it that I almost fanned myself.

Is it hot in here?

My eyes never left his as I put my right hand on his chest and pushed him back a step.

"Later. I need help to make sure Blaze, and not Gunnar, rescues Princess Holly. Then we can leave this place," I smirked and lowered my voice, "together."

I couldn't believe how suggestive my voice sounded. I'm liking this place.

The demon stood speechless for a moment, his programming probably trying to catch up with this new turn of events.

As I walked back toward my sitting room, a possible demon boyfriend on my heels, I pulled my thoughts back to the game and where the two heroes should be. Since I summoned the demon early, the men could already be in the castle.

"Why let them rescue the princess at all?"

This seemed like a strange question from a game character, but he might be evolving since I was now in the game.

"I just want them gone." My cryptic answer made little sense, but it wasn't like I could tell the truth. Thinking back on my own life, which seemed a bit harder to do than when I first got here, circumstances had forced me to marry my best friend. He now lived in a high-rise with his boyfriend, and I was in a small cottage on the outskirts of town, my writing and monthly check from him the only things that sustained me. My family had disowned me.

No one was going to suffer the same fate if I could stop it. 

Not even the princess. Not on my watch.

While my thoughts were elsewhere, Kerrin had come up behind me. A shiver ran across my heart as the breeze from Kerrin's voice touched my cheek. "My queen, how may this humble demon assist you?"

He stopped us in the hallway outside the intended destination as his arms spanned my waist, pulling me closer. I instinctively leaned back in his hold. It seemed to be easier to breathe now.

"Kerrin, I wish for you to take the elves and focus on stopping Gunnar, while giving very little thought to Blaze. If you succeed in letting Blaze rescue the princess without killing him or Gunnar, I promise you a reward." My voice went sultry at the end, knowing I would enjoy his award as much as he would.

I really love this game right now.

The two of us turned and leisurely made our way down to the west side dungeons in anticipation of our players arriving.

Little did we know, they were already there.

I watched on from the rear, concerned that if I got killed, I would actually die. My traitorous cat, Daeva, who had stayed behind in the dungeon, was now working with Gunnar, protecting him against the smaller elves with the limited amount of power she possessed. Kerrin had his life bar up, and I tossed him potions as needed to keep him from dying.

What I wasn't watching was the head elf going after Blaze.

When I leveled one of my few remaining potions at the princess' love interest, it bounced off and hit the elf instead, who gave the killing blow to Blaze. As the man fell, he became transparent before disappearing completely, respawning at the last save point, but it was too late. Gunnar had overcome Kerrin in my distraction and had just given the final blow to the lead elf. As Gunnar turned to me, I yelled out curses and swore to return while running away. Alone.

The throne room was my destination. I hoped Kerrin would respawn here.

Nothing.

My heart broke for myself and the princess. Neither of us would get the man we wanted.

As my body became transparent, I wondered if it was all over or if I'd wake up back in my cursed bed.

—--

"That's a crazy story, girl," the vampire said as she took a sip from her goblet of blood. "But since you're now in my story, I don't doubt it."