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  Alex could smell that the bacon fat was burning, slightly overcooking the bacon. George had made bacon once a few years ago and forgotten he was cooking. He’d walked away and left the bacon to keep frying.

  Alex had been told the bacon had burned to the bottom of the pan, and she’d never forgotten that smell. It was like all of the best things left a little too long.

  There was also the golden scent of pancakes. Years ago, she wouldn’t have known to call the smell golden, but when she started playing Middang3ard, she’d realized that was the smell—golden and perfect. Alex couldn’t smell syrup, though. She wondered if her parents had pulled it out of the fridge yet.

  She walked out of her bedroom and touched the wall, her index finger finding the edges of a photo frame. She tapped the frame lightly before running her hand beneath it and heading toward the staircase. Her head was still a little fuzzy from signing out of VR.

  Usually, Alex wouldn’t have bothered with all the precautions going downstairs. She’d been walking from her bedroom to the kitchen for almost seventeen years, but since she started playing Middang3ard, there were always a few moments of adjusting to not being able to see again.

  Going from being able to see in the VR world to back to the darkness in the real world had never really bothered her.

  Except for today.

  No, it still doesn’t matter, she thought. Nothing has changed, just because I had one conversation with a crazy old man.

  When Alex came to the stairwell, she sat down and leaned against the banister. She could smell better out here. She listened to the sound of her mother tapping eggs with a knife to crack them. It sounded different than when her father cracked his eggs against the side of the pan.

  She could also smell the warm scent of the butter heating in the egg pan. Butter never really smelled like butter unless it was in a pan. Otherwise, it smelled like waiting.

  George’s voice broke Alex’s thoughts. “Hey, honey!” he called. “You finally out of bed?”

  Alex stood and descended the stairs, resting her hand on the banister and taking each step slower than usual. “Yeah, I’m up, Dad,” she yelled back. “Just got out of Middang3ard and smelled that you guys were cooking up a feast.”

  George and Liza laughed. It was definitely one of Alex’s favorite sounds. When her parents laughed in sync, it sounded like love, like something true and unchanging. It was something solid you could reach out and touch and hold close because it was never going to leave.

  Alex crossed the living room, unfolding her cane to be safe, and tapped where she knew the furniture was, stepping to the side to avoid various pieces as she walked into the kitchen, where she took a seat. Her world might have been dark, but it was filled with textures she could never take for granted.

  Now that she was in the kitchen, she could smell her father’s aftershave and her mother’s deodorant. Neither of her parents had bothered trying new products since Alex was born. Now, anytime Alex smelt their brands of deodorant and aftershave, she couldn’t help but think of her parents.

  Liza cleared her throat and asked, “You thirsty? Would our Sleeping Beauty like orange juice?”

  Alex reached across the table to see if there was any toast. She thought she’d caught the faint whiff of perfectly toasted bread. Her fingers met something crusty, and she knew she’d been right. “I wasn’t asleep that long,” Alex countered.

  Alex gingerly felt around until her fingers brushed the jar of jam on the table. She grabbed it and took the spoon out as she snagged a couple of pieces of toast.

  George chuckled and said, “Uh-huh, and I’m assuming you know it’s almost noon. I’m also assuming you weren’t up taking care of your homework. You know we have a lot to get through today.”

  “I told you guys last night I was going to wake up early and play through a raid with my friends. You were given fair warning. I feel like that should absolve me from any teasing from this point forward.”

  George set the bacon right under Alex’s nose, and she couldn’t keep her mouth from watering. She wanted to reach out and take a handful, but she knew it was too hot. She also knew her parents would tease her mercilessly if she let on that she’d stayed in her room to play videogames despite being ravenous. Playing it cool was the best option.

  Alex could smell the eggs her mother brought to the table. Then she heard the groans of her parents relaxing into their chairs and the clank of a glass hitting the table. “Is it safe to eat?” Alex asked. “Or am I being rude if I start now?”

  George laughed as he tapped Alex’s right hand. Alex raised her hand so she could take the plate of eggs George passed to her. She spooned herself what she assumed was a reasonable amount before tapping her mother’s hand and passing her the plate of food.

  The Bounds family continued in this way until all the dishes included in the meal had been shared. “Since everyone has been served, you can get started,” George said.

  For the first few minutes of the meal, no one spoke. Apparently, everyone was as hungry as Alex was. She always appreciated that her parents didn’t try to make conversation until it felt natural. They could silently enjoy each other’s company while she focused on enjoying her meal.

  Liza was an amazing cook. For a long time, Alex assumed she’d had this opinion because she loved her mom and was used to her cooking, but as Alex started staying over at friends’ houses for the night, she found she was blessed to live with a gourmet chef.

  The kitchen was the room Alex felt the most comfortable in. She’d lost track of how many mornings and nights she’d sat at the table listening to her parents cooking and singing together. Occasionally, they convinced Alex to dance with them.

  When Alex was ten, they started to teach her how to cook. They’d helped her memorize which fruits and vegetables were which, and instructed her how to smell when something was ripe. When Alex cooked for her friends, everyone made a huge deal out of it.

  George’s cooking style was not as precise and detailed as Liza’s, but there was one area in which he could not be beaten: his abnormal understanding of meat. Chicken, steak, lamb, alligator—it didn’t matter. If it was meat, George could make something divine.

  Once the initial delight of the meal had faded into normalcy, Liza poured herself another cup of orange juice. Alex heard her mother lean back in her chair. “So, how was your game today?” Liza asked.

  Alex wasn’t prepared for her mother to ask her about Middang3ard. Her parents didn’t usually ask her about gaming unless it seemed like it was going to get in the way of her studies. It was a hobby they didn’t understand.

  Anytime Alex brought it up, her parents would go on long rants about how videogames were different back in their day. You had to have more imagination, they would say. Graphics weren’t everything.

  Yeah, but could they help you see back then? Alex mused.

  From the tones of her parents’ voices, Alex had started to suspect they might both have been heavy gamers when they were younger.

  The proposition from Myrddin was still fresh in Alex’s mind. She hadn’t quite processed what she was giving up by avoiding Middang3ard, but these were all things her parents weren’t going to understand. “It was pretty fun,” Alex finally said. “Me and the guys completed this raid we got with the free expansion pack. It was really hard. Most players haven’t even finished it yet.”

  George coughed as he choked on his food. “You know, I was just reading a couple days ago about a bunch of physical therapy places using Middang3ard to help their clients with their therapy.”

  Alex swallowed a bit of crispy bacon as she nodded. “Yeah, that would make sense,” she agreed. “I’ve heard there are a lot of people who play Middang3ard for that reason. I met this one girl who was in charge of one of the merchant guilds. She was the fastest rider on horseback I’ve ever seen. We were messaging after a quest together. She used to ride horses in real life until she had an accident a couple of years ago and wasn’t able to walk anymore.
She obviously couldn’t ride either, but then she found Middang3ard and was able to get back on a horse again.”

  “I imagine there are a lot of people like that in the game. You can kind of be whoever you want to, right?”

  “Yeah but I prefer to be myself. It’s more fun that way.”

  Alex’s dad ruffled her hair and said, “That’s what I like to hear.”

  Liza’s chair scraped the linoleum floor as she pushed it back and stood. “You know, even though I was leery about the whole thing, I have to say I respect Myrddin for making such an accessible game.”

  There was still a hint of mistrust in Liza’s voice when she continued, “For all the things companies have been dumping money into VR for, this one seems like it’s been the most helpful for people.”

  Alex could tell her parents were talking around the pink elephant in the room. She didn’t mind. It was obvious what they were trying to say. Both of them had been terrified of the idea of Alex plugging into a virtual world.

  Now that Alex’s parents were seeing VR wasn’t something they had to be afraid of, they were beginning to understand it allowed Alex to experience life in a way she’d never been able to before.

  Alex tapped her dad’s hand and said, “Bacon, please. And yeah, it is pretty cool to see people being able to do stuff they couldn’t before. Not just people like me, either. There are kids who are super shy in real life and they’re practically legends in Middang3ard, like Kevin from homeschool group.”

  George laughed loudly as he slapped his knee. “Kevin? That kid’s a legend in Middang3ard? Now that’s kind of awesome.” He chuckled. “I didn’t know he could speak, to be honest.”

  “They call him ‘Silver-tongue Kevin.’ He’s a pirate or merchant. Something like that.”

  Alex heard her mother take a seat again, and the smell of fresh coffee wafted through the air. Liza asked, “So, what’s this I’m hearing on the news that Middang3ard is real? It’s just a game, right?”

  Alex heard fear in her mother’s voice. “Oh, no, nothing like that,” Alex explained. “It’s just a game. It’s just…well, there are rumors that Middang3ard is based on a real place, and that you’ll get invited to go to the real Middang3ard if you beat the final expansion.”

  Across the table, George slurped his coffee. “What about you?” he asked. “Do you believe Middang3ard is a real place? That would be kind of fantastic. I’ve seen videos of what the game looks like. Dragons and elves and all that. You think it might be real?”

  Alex decided to level with her parents. There wasn’t any reason why she couldn’t tell them what she actually believed. They didn’t need to hear about Myrddin, though.

  Alex took a deep breath. “Well, yeah, I believe it’s real,” she admitted. “I mean, the world is so beautiful and full of life. I think it would be harder to not believe it’s real. How could anyone dream up something like that? You guys have seen the screenshots I’ve sent you, right?”

  Liza blew on her coffee, causing a slight whistle. “Ugh, I can’t imagine a world like that.” She groaned. “All those monsters everywhere. A place where demons walk around. That would be terrifying. Utterly terrifying.”

  There was a knock on the front door, and Alex heard her mother rise from her chair. “It is another Jehovah’s Witness,” she muttered. “I am getting very tired of explaining why we are happy with our church, thank you very much.”

  George chuckled as Alex tried to keep from laughing. “So don’t be so nice,” he suggested. Then he turned to Alex and whispered, “They’re not here to convert her. They’re here because every time they knock, she invites them in for cookies.”

  Alex took a sip of her orange juice and, with a giggle, said, “It’s always the cookies, isn’t it?”

  The two of them shared a laugh, one that was abruptly cut off when Liza’s scream rang through the air.

  It was a sound of pure terror. George jumped up, his chair flying backward and rattling on the floor. “What the hell?” he shouted as he ran toward the front door.

  Chapter Six

  Alex rushed from the kitchen to the living room. She nearly tripped over her chair while moving so fast. After regaining her balance, she tried to focus on something other than her mother’s frantic screams to keep from freaking out.

  Now it wasn’t just Alex’s mother screaming; George had joined in. Both were shouting unintelligibly. Something horrible must be happening.

  What if someone was robbing them, or someone had showed up at their door with a gun? It could have been anything, and for the first time in a long time, Alex was completely terrified by what she could not see.

  Without thinking about it, Alex reached for the cane hanging from her belt. She quietly unfolded it as she hugged the wall on the opposite side of the door. She knew she couldn’t be seen from here. The wall jutted out, and you had to inch around it to get to the front door.

  Alex’s mother was shouting, “What is it, George? What the hell is this thing?”

  George had stopped screaming, but he wasn’t making any sense. At first, he was babbling, trying to find the words to describe something. What could they possibly be looking at? Alex wondered.

  She’d never heard her father lose his cool like this before. It was rare for him even to raise his voice, but here he was, trapped in the throes of a horror Alex could only imagine.

  Neither of her parents had been ready for whatever had been at the door, and Alex knew she wasn’t either. The only difference was that she had the element of surprise.

  Alex’s subconscious was saying, “This isn’t Middang3ard, and you aren’t some kind of hero who can swoop in and save the day. You’re a blind girl with a walking cane. What can you do to help?”

  Not stand here like an idiot, Alex thought. Then she inched around the wall and listened closely to see if she could pinpoint where the threat was.

  It was hard to hear over her mother’s continued screaming. By now, her father had stopped stumbling over his words and was speaking very quietly to whoever was at the door.

  Alex jumped out from behind the wall with her walking stick raised. From Liza’s and George’s voices, she could tell roughly where they were. Whatever was freaking them out was most likely between the two adults.

  Alex raced forward like all the times in Middang3ard. Even with this being real life, it still felt natural. She’d fought countless gnomes, dwarves, elves, and humans. This wasn’t going to be any different.

  Alex leapt, her cane poised for an attack, and brought it down on what she hoped was the head of whoever was trying to break into her house. The first thing she noticed was that whatever she hit was soft and spongy. It was not the skull of a person.

  It wasn’t textured like anything that should show up at your front door in the middle of the day. The closest thing she could think of was a pillow that had been stuffed with meat.

  When she fell back, Liza crouched next to her. Her mother wrapped her arms around Alex’s middle, and they both backed away.

  George picked up Alex’s cane, or at least that was what she figured was happening from the sound of the cane scraping the floor, and shouted, “You need to get the hell out of here right now! We don’t want any trouble. You need to leave!”

  The sound of the cane swishing back and forth let Alex know George was swinging madly at whatever she’d hit.

  As Liza pulled Alex back into the living room, she shouted, “We’ll call the cops! I don’t have any idea what the hell you are, but the cops will deal with you if you don’t leave right now.”

  The voice that came back was very deep, and almost relaxing. Alex could hear the fear and frustration in the speaker’s tone. “I apologize. I apologize,” the speaker said. “I was told you’d be expecting me. I am so sorry for the inconvenience.”

  “How could we ever be expecting anything like you?”

  Alex leaned close to her mom and whispered in her ear, “Mom, what’s going on?”

  Liza replied, “It’s
a monster. Oh, God, it’s horrible. It’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “What kind of monster?”

  “What do you mean, what kind of monster? It’s a monster monster.”

  Alex could still hear her father swiping at the creature at the front door. “I swear to God, I’ll smash your head in if you take one step into my house,” George shouted.

  The monster stumbled over his words as if he were trying to find the right thing to say. “I’m so, so sorry. I can come back at a better time if you’d like. I didn’t mean to interrupt whatever humans do this early in the morning.”

  Alex grabbed Liza and pulled her closer. “Mom, tell me what it looks like,” she demanded, unable to believe there was a real monster at her front door. How could this happen?

  Liza took a deep breath as she tried to calm down. “Oh, it’s disgusting,” she muttered. “It’s like a giant, floating, misshapen head, and it has an eye in the middle, with a mouth and fangs. There are these tendrils, and all the tendrils have eyes that keep staring and staring. George, get the gun!”

  The creature yelped loudly. Not the kind of yelp that comes from something that’s here to kill you, Alex thought. “Wait, wait, there’s no reason to get firearms involved,” the voice said. “Most incidents of gun violence take place in the home. We don’t want to contribute to that. Ahh, Myrddin sent me for Alex.”

  George swiped again at whatever was at the front door. “You stay away from my daughter!” Turning to Liza, he yelled, “Honey, get the shotgun! Go, fast!”

  “Wait!” Alex shouted. “Just hold on. I think I know what this thing is.”

  No one spoke. Only the rapid breathing of everyone waiting to see what was going to happen could be heard. “Myrddin sent you?”

  The creature, at least that’s what Alex assumed it was, spoke in a perfectly normal human voice. “Yes. I’m here to recruit you.”

  “Wait, you’re a recruiter? Like in the game?”