“Man, that was cool!” Derek laughed hysterically, giving his friend a congratulatory slap on the back. “I’ve never beaten the whole game before. What happens now?”
“Well, since I won, now I have to fight your character. So, Chip. Hey, you’ve never beaten the game before?” Mike said, astonished.
Derek shot him a look, grinning. “Sorry to disappoint. Guess I just don’t have as much free time on my hands as you do.”
“Heh. Yeah, sorry. Once you’ve moved on to Metal Minions over there, it’s hard to believe you ever had trouble with this one,” he thought, nodding his head toward another game in the corner of the room. “If it makes you feel any better, you’re way better at all this than Xander is. When I tag with him, I usually can’t get past the forth stage.” Mike tensed his hand again as the loading screen started to fade away. Even though he couldn’t say it out loud to Derek, he couldn’t help but think how ironic it was that he could beat Xander at any game. He felt a pang deep inside his gut as that thought crossed his mind. He tried to shove the thought away, but it lingered. I am happy with my life, he reminded himself. With Cathy. Happier then I ever thought I was capable of being.
Sometimes he thought he’d never truly be happy again. In the past few weeks, he had seen things that could not be unseen and done things he would regret to his dying days. Some days he thought he would never have peace.
On days like that, it was usually Cathy who brought him back up for air.
The way she thought and the things she did drove him wild. His skin tingled at her touch and always gave him a drunken, half-hungry feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. When he held her, he felt like he never had before she entered his life. Like a man. He was truly, deeply, madly in love.
“Are you done yet?” Cathy whined. She didn’t usually use that tone with her boyfriend, but he’d been playing that game for the better part of an hour. “I’m really bored.” Her tone of voice was a playful one. She outstretched her arms to him like a little girl, pouting her lower lip. It was irresistibly cute.
Mike let go of the joystick. “You’ve never finished the game, Derek?”
Derek nodded.
“Here’s yer chance,” he said, walking over to Cathy. Grinning mischievously, he started to tickle her and then lifted her up into his arms as she squealed in defiance. “I, on the other hand, have a prior engagement.”
“Wow,” Cathy said, kissing his lips lightly. “You actually said the ‘E’ word without breaking out into hives. I’m impressed.”
He laughed, kissing her. After a moment, his neck began to itch and he resisted the urge to scratch it.
“Waddaya sayin’, boys and girls?” came a new voice from the doorway, followed quickly by a second.
“Girls. Huh.”
Mike broke off the kiss and stood up straight, his body automatically becoming hard and ridged. All of the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he found his arms covered in gooseflesh. Adrenaline started leaking into his system and he found himself ready to get into something fierce right then and there.
Cathy yanked on his jacket to bring him back down next to her. She held him close. “Don’t do it, Mike,” she said sternly.
“Guess it’s obvious who wears the pants in this relationship, huh Mike?” Tommy Irons said, smiling slyly as Sud came in behind, the front door to the Factory closing behind them. He was a tall boy, easily a few inches higher than Mike (and seemed even taller with his hair spiked up as it was), but he was lanky and frail, his arms and legs flopped around him like a rag doll’s. This was emphasized by the baggy clothes he always seemed to wear, including the denim shirt that was always on him and open, with a ripped ‘Hello Nasty’ T-shirt underneath. He smirked devilishly as he watched discomfort sweep over Mike’s face, thoroughly enjoying every moment of it.
“Yeah, pants,” Sud chuckled in his usual incoherent manner. Sud was shorter, about Cathy’s height. His head was shaved clean, except for some excessive stubble around the hard-to-reach areas like the ears. His brow was slanted and thick, making him look like a Neanderthal hunched over the way he was now, his sweater making him look furry and his large knuckles hanging down past his knees. He spoke rarely, but when he did, his deep voice and short sentences made him sound like a grunting ape. Alone, the appearance of either was a source of much amusement. Together, they were downright comical. It was as if they’d stepped straight from a Saturday morning cartoon show.
Mike clenched his jaw. The both of them had gotten off scot free for their part helping Grendel do those things to Cathy during the maelstrom that had claimed so many lives. In Mike’s eyes, Tommy and Sud were worse than Genblade himself, the beast who had brought the Womb out in Xander, and given the monster its first taste of blood. They had helped an evil man rape a beautiful young girl, then they had the gall to still attempt to hang around with them. As if nothing had happened.
“Come on, Cathy,” Mike said, pulling the woman he loved to her
