// MARSCAPONE APARTMENTS //


The two recollect at the apartment after taking the evening’s sustenance. Holidays were easy; people were still pliable and jolly in the freshly turned year.

But regardless of how easy the hunt had been, it was good to return to the basement apartment where they could at least pretend for a few moments that they were no different from any other inhabitant of Earth.

When KEVIN returns, CEDRIC is already waiting. They don’t speak of the past, they don’t speak of what it is to need, to require. They keep looking forward.

KEVIN

WE DOIN’ THIS THING?


CEDRIC doesn’t tear his attention from the computer.

CEDRIC

WHAT THING.

KEVIN

I DON’T KNOW.

REROLLING WITH SVETLANA.


He looks up.

CEDRIC

WE ACTUALLY DOING THAT?

KEVIN

YEAH, I THOUGHT SO.

CEDRIC

THIS GONNA BE SOME ONE-OFF, OR WHAT?

I’M NOT SO EXCITED ABOUT ABANDONING ALL THE WORK I’VE PUT INTO THARGORE.


KEVIN, CEDRIC had been playing since the launch of the game some year ago.

KEVIN

WELL, YOU’RE KIND OF STUCK WITH HER, RIGHT?

CEDRIC

DON’T REMIND ME.

KEVIN

I DON’T THINK IT’S GOING TO BE THAT BAD.

YOU’RE BLOWING THINGS OUT OF PROPORTION.

SHE’S NICE.

CEDRIC

OH, SHE’S NICE ENOUGH.

INSANE.

KEVIN

I THINK THE RUMORS HAVE BEEN EXAGGERATED.

EVERYONE GETS ALL WEIRD WHEN THEY HEAR OF SOMEONE STARTING TO SLIP.

SHE SEEMED DOWNRIGHT CIVILIZED TO ME.


Vampires, like all humanoids, existed on a continuum of sanity. Some of their kind had let the thirst overwhelm them their minds and they wandered the wilderness hunting indiscriminately, becoming the stuff of tavern tales.

KEVIN lowers his voice as if to deliver an aside.

KEVIN

(quietly) If more knew about me…


CEDRIC raises his voice, contesting the self-deprecating commentary.

CEDRIC

DON’T EVEN GET STARTED ON THIS BULLSHIT.

YOU’RE NOT LOST.


KEVIN had been having difficulty accepting the fact that he seemed to be able to talk to his deceased father in the recesses of his mind. In his darker moments, he dismissed it at schizophrenia. But he had confided in CEDRIC, who fully believed in the mystery of the departed.

He did not, however, believe in schizophrenia.

CEDRIC

YOU’RE NOT LOST, KEV.

KEVIN

(quietly) Yeah… I guess.



KEVIN//

Svetlana? You around?

SVETLANA//

Hey guys. I'm around.



As if to elbow him sideways, KEVIN calls out.

KEVIN

SAY SOMETHING!



SVETLANA//

Did you guys still want to get together in-game?



But CEDRIC still maintains silence.

KEVIN

YO, EARTH TO CEDRIC.

COME IN CEDRIC?



KEVIN//

Yeah we were thinking about it.

Are you still available?

CEDRIC//

How was your New Year's?

SVETLANA//

New Year's was good. Spent some time with my kids.

KEVIN//

You have two daughters, right?

SVETLANA//

Yes, I have two.

Esther and Ophelia. They're darlings.

I'm sure you'll meet them one day.



CEDRIC

I’D RATHER BE PLAYING D&D.

KEVIN

TOO FUCKING BAD.



SVETLANA//

We played some board games together.

Do you like board games?



CEDRIC takes advantage of the deafness of the computer monitor and talks of, rather than to, the Vampress. Only KEVIN can listen in.

CEDRIC

NO I DON’T LIKE FUCKING BOARD GAMES.

KEVIN

ALL MOM KEPT IN THE HOUSE WAS A OUIJA BOARD AND MONOPOLY.


He stops a moment, searching his memory.

KEVIN

I GUESS THAT’S NOT TRUE. WE HAD A SCRABBLE SET.

AND MAYBE CHINESE CHECKERS?

OR WAS THAT ONE OF THE KIDS’?



KEVIN//

Didn't play much growing up.

SVETLANA//

I'm sure it was tough with your father.

He used to win everything we'd throw at him.

He was always so gracious about it, but regardless.

I doubt he let you win much.

CEDRIC//

So you said there's a new server?

SVETLANA//

Yeah, just launched.

If you're still interested.

KEVIN//

Yeah, we're still interested.

Might be nice to get a fresh start.

We've fallen a bit behind the curve.

CEDRIC//

It's nice to be behind. Was getting irritating fighting with our own for quest mobs.

SVETLANA//

Game's pretty popular.

I'm surprised.

Don't know why I'm surprised, but I'm surprised.

KEVIN//

Did you play WCIII?

SVETLANA//

A little bit, but had the same problem there that I have here.

No one to play with.



KEVIN

AW, SEE.

SHE’S LONELY.

CEDRIC

SO SHE’S AN OLD MAID.

KEVIN

NOW, COME ON.

JUST YESTERDAY YOU WERE COMPLAINING THAT SHE WAS TOO YOUNG.

IF SHE GOT TO THIS RIPE OLD AGE, SHE’S NO IDIOT.

CEDRIC

PROBABLY HAD SEBASTIAN TO PROTECT HER.

KEVIN

DOUBTFUL.

BESIDES WHICH I DON’T THINK THEY GOT TOGETHER UNTIL AFTER THE WAR.

SHE SURVIVED AT LEAST THAT FAR ON HER OWN.

CEDRIC

AND WHO’S TO SAY SHE WASN’T CLINGING TO SOME OTHER MAN?

KEVIN

I DON’T THINK SO.

I’M SURE YOU’LL GET THE CHANCE TO ASK HER YOURSELF.



SVETLANA//

I was going to make another druid.

If that's okay with you guys.

KEVIN//

Sounds good.

You and Cedric will fight over the leather to begin with but that won't last forever.

SVETLANA//

Hunter?

CEDRIC//

Yeah Kevin and I were just going to roll our toons again.

SVETLANA//

I don't want to be a pain.

I could roll on your server.

KEVIN//

Nah.

I'll be good to have a fresh start.

Should be a bit easier to find groups with the timezone.

SVETLANA//

That would be nice.

I don't group much.



SVETLANA seemed isolated, happy to have the company. She wasn’t over-eager or strange, certainly not crazy. He pitied her for the miasma of rumor she seemed to have attracted. Gossip was a common affliction of their kind, often seeded from jealousy.


VINCENT//

Maybe you'll do something besides play the auction house.



At the recognition of his father’s voice, KEVIN is suddenly very aware of the divide between himself and the digital realm. The game feels distant, polygons and bright textures jarring and irritating.

CEDRIC is absorbed in the computer screen, none-the-wiser, scrolling through character customization options.

[ CLIK. ]
[ CLIK. ]
[ CLIK CLIK CLIK...]


He cycles back around. KEVIN closes his eyes and attempts to recenter himself.

KEVIN

(thinking) He’ll just try to make the same character he had before.



SVETLANA//

I guess I'm stuck with a Tauren.

I can tolerate this.



CEDRIC continues to click through his customization options. KEVIN reflects, that he, too, will end up making the same character he’s already got.

Was it true that he’d prefer to play an RPG?

It wasn’t true for himself. No, he never lost himself enough. It was always a chance for his mind to seat itself in doubt and shame. His mood would become mired in doom and gloom, and it was always a task to muck himself out into the light again.


VINCENT//

I wish I could play.



KEVIN

(thinking) Do you, father? Do you really?


No response rings.


SVETLANA//

Was a priest the first toon you ever rolled?



VINCENT//

No.



KEVIN//

Human mage.

Female human mage.

But I was confused; I thought the effects from frostbolt and fireball would cancel themselves out.

SVETLANA//

Makes sense to me.