I awaken, the blanket is drenched with sweat as is my neck, I lift myself in a sitting position on the bed and steady my breath. I take deep breaths and count to three then exhale, the only useful thing my psychiatrist taught me. . It seems shes haunting my dreams again, the girl that had gotten away.

The nightmare would begin the same, her meloncholy stare, 1920s raspy rendition of a fleetwood mac song plays in the wind,  meanwhile clouds begin to form, my attemps to reach her are futile as she moves farther away every step I take forward. The clattering of the rain, the ground slowly swallows her as her eyes are vacant of emotion as those made of rhinestone. I know i have the strength to lift her up but my hand has begun to melt, my skin begins to seep off me like paint from a canvas, paper thin, the drops of water are heavy now,  I struggle and scream in vain. Not because of the pain but because I know i've lost her again.

"Ten years and I still dream of her" I mutter to myself. I look around and realize that I passed out on the couch again. Smell of smoke and the stench of a half drunk beer on the table that sits there mockingly. Having a bar is a chore, one of my exes told me it would kill me and she was close to the mark, I felt at least half dead, maybe a tiny bit more, a foot and most of the arm in the grave. The clocks around 2 pm. I should call Andes to game, the bars closed tomorrow anyway.

The phone vibrates, it's been ten years since we finished the highlight of my life, it must be a message from a friend. However the sounds not resonating from my phone but my forearm.

"WTF"

A long rectangular screen sits impeded in my arm , I grab it by the side and as I try to pull it, the screen turns on and shocks my arm, I fall back on the bed, the sheets feel disgustingly moist.

45 seconds, why does the screen say 45 seconds to departure.

"Departure, to where, to fucking where"

The forearm answers: " It's a secret, Alcohol san"

There must be an explosive rigged to my fucking arm, who came to my bar last night,  some humor AI Algaeda mix, I look around the room and it looks blurry, i'm hyperventilating. Deep breaths, think, you need to think.

"Cash... is that what you want, money or something, anything"

I run behind the bar and take out 250 euros, last night was bad, theres broken glass on the floor, of course there is.

Forearm: " Your money monopoly , we only need your soul and your body"

Monopoly, what a joke, this must be a dream,  I run to the bar counter and grab a bottle of Ballentines while i lick my lips, then i down the full bodied nectar down my gullet, Charles Bukowskis picture stares at me admiringly. I must still be drunk from last night.

Forearm: "Hick, 10 seconds, Hick"

It's the machines weakness is my only strenght alcohol, so I let my instincts and craving cells take over as I down the whole bottle.

" you like that fucker"

Light weight forearm: " 2 seconds, Hick, wait where were we going, Hick"

First the room shakes, then it starts to warp into a vortex of bar chairs, ciggarette buds, pictures of forlorn writers and old booze, it all mixes like the most disgusting cocktail in the world, my flees my body and becomes one with it, I try to laugh as it twists my body like strings of dough to join the vortex, the cherry on top. Everything turns dark.

"Chirp, chirp" Fucking birds... what a dream.

My head is pounding fiercely, I attempt to open my eyes but the sunlight pricks in to my already hungover droopy eye lids and reddish corneas, so I only get a glimpse of the sky. It's so hot, did somebody leave the electricity on. Wait it looked like I was outside, but it was winter in England, my brain begins to process the still image of what i saw the millisecond my eyes opened. Two suns, I must be still dreaming and what was that big floating grey sphere.

Hungover Forearm: "Ohhhh, auuu, my circuits, checking location... two kilometers off, ahhh Kane you need to wake up, we have a problem"

No no,, I pinch my arm, wake up now, it's all a dream.

I try to open my eyes again, the two suns stare at me mockingly, and the grey moon in front of me grudgingly like a 80s zombie, i put my hands to my head, this can't be real.

Worried Forearm: "Okay it's a dream Kane but let's play along, start running or you'll get devoured by wilder beasts and i'd like to at least keep this part of your arm safe"

What a vivid dream, I stand up on a plateua of grass, and wipe the dirt off, there is a lush forest next to me but the trees are of strange colors even though their shapes are somewhat of birches and maples, there is a blue circle to the north, a force field that seems to reach to space, I've been playing too many video games.

The suns go into the shade, as a branch falls on my shoulder in my shock I immediately look up and a a rose like bulb slowly lowers itself from a branch of a massive tree towards where i'm at red substance drips from it, the whole tree is red but with closer inspection it has veins circling the bark pulsating, the earth seems to breath as it happens.

Forearm: " A blood bulb, jump now alcohol san!!!"

There fear in the robotic arms voice jolts my body to the side as the bulbs petals open, they come off each other like a glue like substance filled the mouth. A mouth full of teeth dripping with pieces of red mucus, it crunches a pair of glasses and then spits them out I grab them before It hits the ground barely missing me it furiously bites at gnaws at the groud where it thinks I am, the trees veins are now pulsating more exitedly.

Forearm: "Run!, you're lucky it had just eaten so it's slower"

I begin to sprint towards the plateau, the blue wall slowly comes to view and on the right a  sea, there's something huge flying in the distance. The blood bulb turns flopping on the ground like a fish and finally it faces me.

The branch pulls back and then sling shots the bulb towards me, i'm sure it's got me, right before its pedals sorround me the branch runs out of slack and the pedal is slung back. It flutters on the ground, gnawing at the air. The turns dark red, like blood.

Forearm: "Hmm, you got lucky there, it was only around level 10"

"What do you mean like stories high"

I keep running, ignoring the forearm, knowing what he meant but trying to ignore it the best I could, that couldn't have been real. Then a green bar on the lower left side of my view starts blinking.

STAMINA LOW SUCKER

TRAIT UNLOCKED: COWARD + 2 AGILITY

"Coward really, so fucking hilarious, I almost died there Forearm"

Forearm: "Call me Valery, forearm is a bit of a tedious name, you can stop for now, we are close to the barrier and the closer we get the level of the monsters drop, and I don't make up the rules"

Kane "Monsters, that thing was like something out of Lovecraft, i'm in some sort of RPG sick experiment thing ain't I, that last hangover probably knocked me into a coma or something, so is this the point where you tell me the rules"

Valery: " Alcohol san, the rules are simple, you need to level up, traits come from experiences and depend on what sort of god likes you, now it seems you've gotten a Sadistic God and a Mocking One, which is not the greatest combo if you aren't thick skinned, but can easily become the strongest fighter due to skills end exp raising quickly, now you will most likely be shunned by the populace as these skills are taboo and usually assholes pardon my language get them"

Kane: " I see so i've pretty much gotten the same skills and gods looking after me as in earth"

Valery: " There might be new gods who fall in love with you at some point"

Kane: "I'll just leave that at that for now"

Valery: " Not that kind of love.... idiot san, now lets make haste to the barrier it will get dark soon and were not out of the woods yet"

End of Part 1

Let me know if you want more and how frequently ill keep uploading the story, thanks.