Quest 50 | ONC 2024 HONORABLE MENTION ✨️✨️

Ten:

The sun faded in the sky. I watched the bright orange color fade into dusk and light blueish-grey shadows engulfed the sky. From Damon's bedroom window, I could make out the alien spaceship in the distance. A reminder they were still here, and in an hour, we'd have to log back into torture.

Humming quietly, I trailed my fingers over Damon's bare chest. With my head above his heart, his beats of life calmed me. I awoke in the morning and rushed over to see him. After last night's game, I needed to make sure he was okay. Yet, as soon as he opened the door for me, he lifted me in his arms so my legs wrapped around his waist. He took my lips in the deepest kiss and As I whimpered, surprised and suddenly aroused, he carried me up the stairs and into his bedroom.

I spent the morning beneath him. We took each other's passion and love. We held each other, we came together, and we cried. Our frustrations of nearly dying the night before took over and we knew it couldn't happen again.

Damon's hands combed the side of my hair as he pressed a soft kiss on the top of my head. "Everything's changed," he said.

I glanced up at him and touched his chin. "What has?"

"The stakes," he said as he looked into my eyes. "When the aliens first got here, it was all about surviving. We played the game, logged out, went to sleep, and did it again. Rinse and repeat." Damon shifted so that I lay on the bed instead and he was beside me. He held my chin between his fingers, leaned in, and kissed me. "But if we survive, we won't. If another creature like that snake comes in, I won't have control. Nina—"

"Hey." I pressed my hand over his heart. "Last night wasn't your fault."

His brows pinched and sadness took over. I felt his heart rage inside his chest. Was it fear? I knew what scared him because I had the same thought. I can't lose him just like he can't lose me.

I shook my head as I pursed my lips. "We're going to make it together. That's what you told me when the Wiloxes first came."

"Wiloxes?" He searched my face.

"That's what the serpent called them. Knowing their name—it gives power. When we didn't know what they were, the mystery made it worse."

"No." Damon shook his head. "What's worse is knowing that we've loved each other since we were kids, separated so we could grow, and for what? My growth can't stop me from being controlled by them." He put his hands on my waist and pulled me closer, my hips against his, my legs between his. He pressed his forehead against mine. "You have no idea what she made me think of."

I pressed my lips together and held him tightly. "Don't think about it," I whispered. "It wasn't you. She was the monster, none of it was your fault."

"Nina..."

I looked into his eyes. He needed something, a sign that everything, despite how it truly was, would be okay. I whispered the words I knew mattered, "I forgive you."

Damon sighed and kissed my top lip. "But I'll never forgive myself."

I couldn't let him feel that way but I understood. I couldn't change what happened or what she did to him. We could only move forward, keep growing, and prepare ourselves for what the Wiloxes want us to do next.

I cupped his face and moved close for another kiss when someone shouted outside. Both of our eyes widened as we looked out the window. "You have to stop playing!" a man screamed.

Damon carefully moved off the bed and walked over to his window. He stayed back an inch, so as to not be seen as he peered outside. "The fuck," he whispered. "I know that guy."

I sat up and gripped one of the cream pillows. "Is he a friend?" I asked.

"No." He looked back at me. "He was playing the game."