THE MOMENT
It almost felt like home. As Doug woke up, the sunlight came in through the high windows at just the right angle to give him a good view of his surroundings without blinding him. He could feel cold metal and looked down to see a silver handcuff around his wrist. The wooden crates around him seemed familiar somehow. He also spotted a group of teenage girls standing some distance away. They were talking about something; but, the conversation ceased the moment Doug tried to reposition himself. He moved and the metal cuff banged against the metal chair. Five teens turned to face him.
"Hi," each of them waved at him and gave some sort of greeting. The first one was a brown-haired girl in a green hoodie.
"Hey," the tallest of the group said. She was a pale girl with spikey white hair.
"Hi!" the girl next to the pale one waved; she had spikey black hair that almost matched the taller girl's.
"Welcome!" a girl in a black lace dress with a mass of curls flowing over her shoulders spread her arms out to indicate the warehouse. Then, a beat later, the brown-haired girl tapped the last one on the shoulder and made her look up from her phone. The girl with twin afro puffs nodded at him.
"'Pleasure," she said, then her attention fell to the screen in her hands again. Doug found himself confused about several things in an unusual order. Despite his obvious predicament, he did not feel threatened by the teens at all. He was at ease, and that was what worried him the most. He felt confident that this wasn't even the first time he was kidnapped this week. Why was that okay?
"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Doug asked. He felt compelled to say something and the questions seemed appropriate, even if those weren't the foremost on his mind. Four of the teens turned to look at the distracted girl. Finally, the brown-haired one encouraged her forward with a light shove.
"Oh, hey, don't worry about a thing," the girl said as she put her device away. "You're safe here; there are some demons coming after you but my friends and I will protect you," she said. "Okay?"
"...oh..kay...," Doug nodded. The answer he didn't want only gave him more questions. Mostly, because he didn't have any. He accepted her explanation at face value. And, even as he tried to wonder who she was or how he got involved with demons, his mind was eager to dismiss the questions as unimportant. Demons were after him, and these teenage girls would keep him safe; what more did he need to know? She seemed to think that was enough information too because she turned around and returned to the group who had all moved closer with her. He was able to make out parts of their conversation now.
"I thought there'd be demons by now," the girl with black spiked hair said. She spoke the comment while focused on the one with afro puffs. Doug guessed she was the leader, they all seemed to look to her for answers.
"We're supposed to guard him for a couple of hours; the waves could come in at any time between now and then," she shrugged. "Sorry, I could have explained that better."
"It's fine," the one with black spikes replied. "I just thought I'd be too busy fighting to be hungry...,"
"I could eat," the tallest girl nodded.
"We might have time," the one with afro puffs agreed. "Donna's?" she asked.
"Pizza?" the girl with black curls asked.
"Pizza," the brown-haired girl agreed followed by the other two, and finally the one with afro puffs.
"Okay, what?"
"Oh, we should ask him," the girl with black spikes said. Doug watched her point at him.
"He's just an NPC," the brown-haired girl replied. Doug wondered what she meant even as the other girl waved at him.
"Hey! Do you want pizza? What do you want on it?" she asked. Doug's mind froze. He stared at her with his mouth agape as he pondered the question deeper than any question he'd ever considered. What did he want on his pizza? It was like a brand new sentence full of words he knew put together in a strange way. No one had asked him that before. Ever. But, it went further than that.
"Hey... are you okay?" the girl with black spikes came closer to ask.
"I don't know...," he said. He looked into her eyes and felt his own pool with tears as he stared at her. "...what pizza tastes like...," he said. "I've never had it...," he looked around the warehouse as soon as he answered. It was the same as it always was. The same labels on the same crates in the same position. Every time. Why did all his kidnappers bring him to this warehouse? And come to think of it, what did his actual house look like? He was having trouble picturing it.
"You've never had pizza?" she asked.
"HEY! What'd you do!?" The girl with afro puffs broke off from the group and came to Doug and the girl with black spikes. "My quest failed!" she said. The rest of the group immediately surrounded Doug.
"I didn't do anything! I just offered him pizza!" the girl defended herself. "He's never had it," she added.
"Of course not," the brown-haired girl said. "He's a quest NPC that only spawns for quests. This is all he knows," she said.
"Hawaiian," Doug said. He was focusing on finding an answer while the teens talked about him. He caught bits of their conversation and jumped to his own conclusions. He didn't know exactly what was happening at the moment; but, he knew the only way out was to start making decisions.
"Yeah! Dude knows what he wants, the best!" the girl with black spikes said as she patted Doug on the shoulder.
"He's not supposed to....," the brown-haired girl shook her head. "What's your favorite number?" she asked.
"One!" Doug answered instantly.
"Whoa...," the girl with black spikes said. Doug noticed golden light in her eyes as she looked at him. "NPCs can be Unique Souls..??" she asked.
"They're not supposed to...," the brown-haired girl said.