She looks into my eyes and whatever she sees there must be enough. She nods once, grabs Marie’s arm, and pulls her towards the bedroom door. I’m not sure if she can open the portal door so I push ahead of her and open the glowing bedroom door. Beyond it is a black void that my mom pushes a protesting Marie through without looking back.
Jeez, That’s a lot of trust. As far my mom knows, she just walked into the hallway with a masked killer. I follow her through the portal, glad my mom has faith in me.
Chapter 41
I walk forward into the dark, hands outstretched, and bump into my something.
“Hey, watch where you’re putting your hands!” My sister squeaks. I pull my hands back in embarrassment. Ewwww. I just accidentally touched my sister’s...never mind. I don’t even want to think about it.
As my eyes adjust to the dark room, I can barely make out my sister and Mom. The two are holding each other with one arm and reaching out into the dark with the other. I can only imagine how confused they are. They walked out my bedroom door expecting to walk into a narrow hallway. They've taken a dozen steps forward and hadn't hit a wall yet.
I don’t normally come here this late and I fumble around. I know there’s a wall near the door and my hands reach out blindly until I find one. Then they slide along the walls, searching for a light switch. Before I can find it, the lights overhead come on, and I see Lillian standing across the room. One hand still stretched out towards the wall switch near her, the other hand rubbing the sleep out of her eye. She’s wearing loose-fitting sweatpants and a t-shirt with the phrase ‘A Jedi on the streets, a Sith in the sheets’ printed on it.
Her unfocused eyes see me, and she asks, “Anthony? What are you doing here?”
Before I can answer, Marie pipes in, “Anthony, where are we and why is your girlfriend here?”
Lillian, wide-eyed, swivels to my mom and Marie standing in the middle of her office. Her eyes dart back to me, a questioning look in her eyes.
All three women stare at me, and I feel rather uncomfortable under such scrutiny. “Mom, Marie, we’re at Lillian’s office, the safe place I told you about. That madman can’t get to us here.”
Turning to Lillian, I try to explain, “I know this is an intrusion, but I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. Can we stay here for a little while? It’s an emergency.”
My request for asylum only seems to confuse Lillian further, and her nose scrunches up as more questions undoubtedly flash through her mind. Not that I can blame her, I just asked her to let my whole family crash at her place without really giving any details.
Lillian’s surprise only lasts a moment as she makes a decision. She turns to my sister and Mom. “Mrs. Tinoco. Marie. Welcome to my office and home. You're welcome to stay here as long as you like.” Then as her good hostess instincts kick in, she adds, “Please have a seat while I make you something to drink.” She gestures towards the couches that face the office windows and the stunning view of New York City.
The two are drawn to the view and the couches. Lillian motions for me to join her, and she leads me to a corner of the room that serves as the office kitchenette. There’s a sink, a small counter with a coffee pot on it, and some cabinets. She empties the coffee pot into the sink and turns on the faucet to fill the pot up. With the running water muffling our conversation, she turns to me, crosses her arms in front of her chest, and asks, “What the hell is going on here?”
Lillian’s annoyance is pretty evident, and I quickly explain, “I brought my mom and sister here because they were going to be murdered by the masked User that kidnapped me.”
The statement seems to take her aback. What annoyance was there, is replaced by concern. She places a hand on my arm and asks, “Murder? Kidnapping?”
I sigh and lean against the counter. “Yeah, murder and kidnapping.”
I tell Lillian about the events of the last few hours. Her responses to the events are more emotional than I expected them to be. She listens intently as I describe the discovery of the dungeon. She comforts me with a hug when I tell her about being kidnapped and then killed again and again in the artificial dungeon. She’s happy when I tell her how I figured out how to escape and destroyed the respawn crystal. She’s furious when I tell her the man in the mask broke into our home to murder my family in retribution for that act. She’s aghast when I tell her that someone has been targeting her and her company specifically.
When I’m done telling her about what happened, Lillian looks as emotionally drained as I feel. She looks down and pinches the bridge of her nose, then says, “I’m sorry that this happened to you and your family. These assholes were trying to get at my company and me. I wish that I could say I’m surprised that someone is trying to ruin me, but I’m not. I’m just surprised they’d take it this far.” Looking up at me, she continues, “But I’m going to make it right. I’m going to take care of you and your family.”
My mind goes a dirty place when she says she’ll ‘take care of me,’ but I dismiss the thought immediately. It’s not like that with Lillian.
She pulls a cell phone out of the pocket of her sweatpants and makes a series of phone calls. The first is to John. He’s out on a date, but drops what he’s doing and says he’ll be right over when Lillian tells him there’s been an attack on my family.
The next call is to Harold, the father of Nancy, Frank, and Joe. He works for Ludas Inc. They’re another corporation that clears dungeons, but according to Lillian they also do security work. Ever since I cleared that zombie dungeon with Nancy, Frank, and Joe, their father Harold has been helping us get ready for the System Games by giving us tips about new dungeons in the U.S. When she summarizes the situation for him, he promises to get a security team sent over to my house immediately.
The last call is to some contact she has at the Oversight Committee. They’re the governing body that oversees the System and makes sure it is not being abused. They’re also the group that will referee and judge the upcoming System Games. Lillian tells them about the incident, and they say they’ll send an agent over to begin an investigation.
By the time Lillian is done talking on the phone, John has ported to the office. Walking through the office door, he scans the room and sees my mom and sister sitting together on the couch. He nods to them and walks over to me. The older man gives me a fatherly clap on the shoulder. “Are you ok, Anthony? Is everyone in your family safe? Do we need to pick up anyone else?”
I nod appreciatively at the concern he’s showing. “Yes, everyone is safe. I don’t have any other close family.”
“Well, then if the immediate danger is over, might I suggest that you talk to your mom and sister? They’re undoubtedly scared and confused about what’s happening and how they got here.”
John is right. I’d almost forgotten about them while talking to Lillian. I’m not sure how much to tell them though. They already know someone broke into our house and was trying to hurt us. They’ve also probably figured out they’re in New York from the view out the window. But how much am I allowed to tell them about the System and stuff? I don’t want some secret government agency to take them for knowing too much.
Thankfully, Lillian’s here. Sensing how unsure I am about what to tell my family, she pats my chest and tells me, “Don’t worry. I’ll handle the explanations.”
While she was talking on the phone, she’d also been multi-tasking and preparing coffee, tea, and cookies. She puts everything on a tray and heads over to my mom and sister. Lillian sets the tray on the coffee table in front of the couches and passes out mugs. Once everyone has their drink of choice, she begins, “Mrs. Tinoco, Marie. First, let me assure you that you are completely safe here. We have a top of the line security system in place. Also, I’ve already had a security company dispatched to your home to make sure the intruder is gone. If he’s still there, the team will capture him.”