Classes had gone by slowly. With it being the last day before spring break her teachers had nothing planned and instead of putting on a film for the remainder of class they decided to make the students use their time productively. This resulted in each hour long class being used as a study hour. Katherine, along with the other students, hadn't brought much to their classes so each class was filled with the students quietly chattering among each other.
"Please." Mike and Dustin had cornered Katherine on her way out of her English class asking if she could join their dungeon and dragons game. She had to admire their commitment. They had started by begging, giving her a desperate look, which had caught her off guard the second she left the classroom. "Don't you guys have class?" She muttered, referencing the fact that they had been waiting for her. They immediately started following her to her last class, one on each side, weaving through the students as she tried not to cut either of them off.
"Please what?" She asked as they shared the sentiment again.
"Please join hellfire. Just for tonight. Please." Their voices overlapped as she gave them a sympathetic look.
"I don't know how to play." She argued. "Even if I did it's Lucas' big game. Are you really going to miss it?"
The two boys looked at each other . "Yes."
"Why? Lucas is your best friend."
"We need another player. Eddie is gonna freak if we don't come up with a sub."
"Really?" Katherine asked. "What's the worst that'll happen?" She knew the kids loved him and they wouldn't have been allowed in the club if Eddie didn't like them. Plus he didn't seem like the kind of guy to beat on younger kids.
They paused for a second as they reached Katherine's class. They looked at each other before changing to a calmer told.
"We've been in this campaign all semester." Mike explained.
"And it's the last meeting."
"It's up to us-"
"We're the future of the club."
Katherine had a hard time saying no. Did she want to spend two hours in a smelly gym where her only two friends would be preoccupied with their crushes? No. Would she rather spend two hours in a D&D campaign she knew nothing about surrounded by people who would criticize her being there? Also no.
"Listen, I would. I really would. I just promised to go to the game. See ya." She took a step to the door.
"We'll see if Eddie will give you a shirt." Dustin blurted out as a last ditch effort. She paused and turned to face the two boys.
"That's not even funny because I love those shirts." The two boys looked at eachother and smiled. The first time they had worn the shirts Kat had complimented them. They, of course, had tried to take on to give to her but it was for players only. Every week since they invited her to play with them but usually Katherine was preoccupied with school or helping Robin and Steve at the store.
Dustin turned to Mike to whisper. "I told you the T-shirt would work."
Katherine shook her head in amusement at the two boys. She would have to find Lucas to apologize before his game.
Mike and Dustin met her outside an hour later to go over the basics of the game. They rushed through creating her character, giving her the character they had made for her years ago when she had babysat them.
By the time the club was meeting was about to start Katherine was so burnt out by Dungeons & Dragons that she would've preferred going to the basketball game. At the very least she could see who Steve was taking out tonight.
"We just need to wait for a minute." Dustin announced as they stood outside the school, in front of the doors. Katherine have them a confused look until she saw the small figure make her way towards them, complete with a cape fashioned out of an American flag.
"If you got Erica to sub why am I here?" Katherine questioned. As far as she knew only Lucas was missing the meeting. They didn't need an extra person.
"Eddie's not gonna buy having a middle schooler," Mike started. "No offense." He led the way into the hallway.
"None taken. I could still kill your character, take your weapons and still have enough hit points." Erica snapped back. Katherine went wide eyed.
"You can do that? Even on the same side?" Katherine asked. They boys had gone over simple rules but she was still confused. She should have just told them no, she was in over her head.
"Kat." Dustin said.
"Yeah?" Katherine answered softly, feeling the unavoidable anxiety of her future embarrassment.
"We will literally tell you what to do."
"You have too much faith in me." She answered as they continued down the hall.
Katherine had never been to the part of the school that the Hellfire Club met. It was probably the furthest place from the gym and yet the cheers of the crowd could still be heard. She looked in fascination in the dark room, noticing the table in front of them.
Surrounding it were the rest of Hellfire and of course, their leader in the middle. She had obviously heard a lot about Eddie from Dustin, Mike and Lucas. She had heard even more from Steve, who had a very different opinion on him. And of course, she had known of him for 10 years and was familiar with his antics at school. Of course lunch earlier and the fact that she had defended him led to a mind numbing questioning on Robin's part.
She tried to look confident, like she belonged here. As stupid as she felt she tried to copy Erica's pose, holding the notebook and standing straight. Great, she thought, I'm copying an 11 year old.
"Absolutely not." We're the first word's out of his mouth as he noticed the two newcomers. Katherine immediately shot her head towards Mike and Dustin who, in their defense, shot her a slight guilty look.
"You asked for a sub. We delivered."
"This is Hellfire Club. Not Babysitting Club. Or cheer practice."
"I' m not a cheerleader." Katherine muttered, slightly offended yet more mortified. Of course she wasn't wanted there.
"I'm 11, you long-haired freak." God, Katherine admired this kid. Stones of steel.
"My, my, the child , what's your name, child?"
"Erica Sinclair." Erica snapped back.
"So this is Sinclair's infamous sister."
"He's sharp." Erica turned to Katherine and the two boys. Katherine smiled at the young girl and laughed.
" What's your class and level? Level one dwarf"
"My name is Lady Applejack. And I'm a chaotic good half-elf rogue, level 14. I will sneak behind any monster you throw my way and stab them in the back with my poison-soaked kukri. And I'll smile as I watch them die a slow, agonizing death. So, we gonna do this, or we gonna keep chitchatting like this is your mommy's book club?" The whole room remained silent as the club and Katherine stared at the young girl.
"Welcome to Hellfire." Eddie smiled as he reached out his hand for Erica to shake. She took it as Dustin and Mike let out a sigh.
"What about you?" Eddie turned his attention to Katherine, who was clutching her book.
"Well, I am a level 1 dwarf." She joked, hoping to get a reaction from the leader. Instead he looked at her with a blank stare.
"Katherine, right?" He replied. She was slightly taken aback at his tone. He sounded almost accusatory, giving her a deep stare.
"Um, yeah. Or Kat." She replied as she looked around at the other club members. Dustin and Mike looked scared, Erica looked a little suspicious and everyone else seemed to be confused.
Eddie just smiled at her as if deciding what he wanted her to do. "You played before?" He asked as Katherine slowly shook her head.
"I just came to help."
Eddie looked like he was contemplating his entire existence before asking," Do you have a character sheet?"
"Oh. Yeah." Katherine flipped through her papers before handing it over. Eddie read the sheet fast before looking at her.
"Let's play." He said before motioning to the table in front of him. He handed her back the sheet and gave her a small nod.
Katherine took a spot next to Dustin and he gave her a smile.
Katherine had watched the game be played many times before. When she would watch one of the boys the other 3 would come over and they'd have a short campaign. They usually roped her into playing but never told her how to play so her part was to roll when they told her to.
That was nothing like what she was watching now. Half of the time the other members were screaming at each other all while Eddie continued the story, using various accents and hand movements. It was kind of distracting to watch and Katherine found herself so invested in the story that she often forgot that she was playing.
To say she understood what she was doing was an overstatement. She went along, listening to the story and every so often Dustin got Mike would nudge her asking what she wanted to do. More often she would shrug and they would give a suggestion, that she usually took. Some point during the game she started getting the hang of it, sort of. Her decisions weren't allowed or she would focus on the wrong item of interest.
To Eddie's credit, he was patient with her. She didn't know how but she figured he was going easy on her. He probably wanted to get more people into the Hellfire Club before he left. Through his theatrics Katherine could tell that Eddie was just happy that the others were enjoying his campaign. She couldn't help but watch as he smiled at the other members.
"The hooded cultists chant, "Hail Lord Vecna." "Hail Lord Vecna." They turn to you, remove their hoods. You recognize most of them from Makbar. But there is one you do not recognize, his skin shriveled, desiccated. And something else. He is not only missing his left arm, but his left eye!" The players screamed in annoyance as Eddie positioned his hand over his eye, impersonating the villain they were attempting to defeat, one according the Mike, they had done already.
"No! No! Vecna's dead. He was killed by Kas." They protested.
"So it was thought, my friends. So it was thought. But Vecna lives."
" You are scared. You're tired. You are injured. Do you flee Vecna and his cultists? Or stand your ground and fight?"
"Um, fight?" Katherine questioned looked back and forth between the two boys. Erica nodded her head in agreement.
"I say we fight. To the death. To the death. To the death."
"To the death! To the death! To the death! To the death! To the death! To the death! To the death! To the death!" Katherine joined the rest of the players in their chant. She was unable to keep the smile from her face as they yelled in sync.
A few more rolls and Katherine couldn't say what had happened.
"Guys, I hate to say this, but we've got to flee."
"I concur."
"Didn't we just agree "to the death?" Erica questioned the older members.
"That wasn't literal. Vecna just decimated us. We can't kill him with two players."
"You too? He only has 15 hit points left. Don't be pussies."
" Pussies? Really? "
'Cause we're not delusional?"
" Delusional? How about not cowards?"
"Hey! If I may interject, gentlemen, Lady Applejack, Princess Kat. Whilst I respect the passion, you'd be wise to take Gareth the Great's concern to heart. There is no shame in running. Don't try to be heroes. Not today, 'kay?" Katherine looked at the two remaining players, Dustin and Erica.
"One sec." Dustin replied while holding up a single finger at his leader.
" What do you think? How many hit points do you and Applejack have left?"
"Twelve."
"So it's your call. What do you say, Lady Applejack?"
Erica gave him a disbelieving look. "You really gotta ask?"
"Screw it. Let's kill the son of a b¡tch. Winners find a way to win. Let me find a way."
"The chances of success are 20-to-1."
"Never tell me the odds." Katherine held up her hand to Dustin who enthusiastically high-fived her. "Just get me the ball. Get me the ball. Give me the D20." Katherine couldn't see what the dice landed on but she knew it's wasn't good as they all groaned and Eddie yelled out that's a miss".
It was now up to Erica, who held her resolve and quickly let go of the dice. " Crit hit! Yeah! "
They all broke out in cheers as Dustin and Mike grabbed into Katherine and started jumping. She let the wave of enthusiasm crash over her as she let out a cheer.
"Congrats guys." She said as they started to mellow out. They kept beaming, even getting a congratulations from their dungeon master.