Puffs of her breath were visible in the chilly air. The old woman pressed her back against a flickering lamppost. She dropped her phone when the sounds of sirens neared. She sighed in relief when a young paramedic was in her view. The ashen paramedic worked her frantically onto a stretcher.

Sunlight chased away the shadows of the sterilized room. The woman gazed outside watching the sunrise above the horizon. She secretly wished she could open the window to feel the gentle ocean breeze. A nurse gaited into the room carrying a tray of food. The nurse smiled at the aged woman as she went about her duties. After watching re-runs of an outdated cartoon, a young man in his early twenties arrived. She continued to look at the screen smiling weakly. "I failed you know." She chuckled softly. "But, I wouldn't be here if I won now would I?"

The man stared at her solemnly. After realizing that she failed to bring humor to the situation, she glanced at him. "Back to business, I need you to enter my house. You know where the keys are. Take the black box. Your heir is next in line. I wish your child the best of luck and hope that she won't fail."

The beeping of her heart monitor slowed into an endless drone. The old wrinkled woman lay lifeless on the gurney. The man exited as the doctors and nurses rushed into the room. There were things to be done.

The tension in the room thickened enough that anyone in the room could swim through. The girl stared intensely at the screen. The words "Game Over" flashed onto the screen. The girl screamed and tossed the controller off to the side. "I'd like to keep my ears. Thanks."

The boy winced as the girl promptly glared at him. He grinned at her response. "You want to have another go?"

She jumped off the couch. "Sorry Nate. It is getting late. My parents are taking me out to dinner tonight."

"That's okay Alyss. Wait. I'm going to get your present." Nate raced up the stairs. She jumped when she heard a loud crash.

"Are you okay?!" Alessandra ran to the staircase. Nate appeared at the top of the stairs with a large smile across his lips. He held a large wrapped box. He expertly slid down the banister appearing at her feet with flourish.

"I tripped on my skateboard and hit the wall knocking my bookshelf over…again. Don't worry, I'll fix that later." Handing her the box, he placed an arm on her shoulders. "To your eighteenth birthday."

Alessandra delicately opened the box and revealed another wrapped box. "Come on. I haven't got all day to open up a box!"

Sighing, he snatched the box out of her hands and flipped it upside down for her. "There you go."

She glanced suspiciously at him then looked into the box. She grinned at the new game console and her other favorite things. She pounced on him throwing them both on the couch.

"I didn't know you wanted me that badly." He whispered into her ear, hugging her tightly. "But now I know you like to be on top."

Her smile grew into a frown at the sound of a car beep. "I guess that's my cue to go. I'll see you when your damn tour is over. Until then, you better miss me."

She leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Bye best friend."

Alessandra sauntered out the door. He placed his fingers on his cheek lightly. "Always."

"Hey. Are you and lover boy going out yet?" A middle-aged woman sat with her hands on the wheel.

"No Aunt Shelly. Now drive or I won't have time to change."

Shelly huffed while starting the car. "You're no fun."

Alyss arrived home with both parents sitting in the living room after being dropped off by her aunt. Alessandra's mother cried that night. Her father held her mother comfortingly, saddened as well. "We can't hold the secret any longer."

Her father held her mother's hand. "We're not going to see you in a long time if not ever again. Alyss darling…" He gestured to the mysterious box on the table. "That is rightfully yours."

Alyss stared at her parents incredulously. "I get it. This is some kind of a joke isn't it? I would think that you would say 'goodbye and have a nice life' instead of only giving a stupid box that has God knows what inside."

"We're not kicking you out. You just have to play a 'game.'" Her mother was still teary and restless. "I think that box should explain what needs to be done."

They seriously want me to believe this? Alyss thought as she carried the box into her room. The box had swirls and lines running across the sides in every direction. She lifted the lid slowly peering inside. Two bright gold eyes stared back into hers. "Boo!"

Alyss stumbled back startled almost dropping the box. "Oh my god! Oh my god! What the hell is that? What's going on?"

The box shook up and down. "Open the lid and let me out you nimrod!"

She frantically opened the lid while rushing to open the light. She turned to her bed to see what came out of the box. "My, my. You're pretty sexy."

A young creature lay on her bed, holding a bra in his hand. There were tattoos of a twisting serpent around his arm and another tattoo of a pair of dragon wings across his back. His appearance was intriguing if it weren't for the lack of clothing around his bare chest. He smirked while swinging the electric blue lacy bra around his finger. He was something that resembled a human but not quite. He had a cruel aura to him. "Let's see. You opened a box, waking me up from a deep slumber of eighteen years. You are a player in a game that grants you a wish and sets me free at the risk of your life. The previous woman was an old bat. She would always yell and nag and— Hey! Where are you going?!"

Alyss ran downstairs taking the cursed box with her. He appeared in front of her. "Tough luck. Once you opened the box, time stopped until I explain the rules to you."

She tapped her foot impatiently. "I don't have a wish."

He blew his obnoxious red hair away from his face. "That's odd. You'll figure it out eventually."

She realized that they were back in her room. He sat in a chair gazing at her. "How did we get in here?"

"That will be explained in time. There are only two main rules of the game." She lay on her bed staring at him, gesturing for him to continue.

I should humor him for a bit, she thought.

"The first rule is that you cannot leave a dimension until the mission is complete. The second is that you cannot destroy something if you are in a dimension of the past." His piercing gold eyes observed her movements as she listened to his words. She seemed to space out on the bed. "Oh yeah. I forgot to mention one more rule. You must have se—"

He stared at the wall not realizing that Alyss threw a pillow at him. He fell off the chair on impact. "Pervert."

He grabbed the pillow and tossed it back onto her bed. "I can only tell you that this is where your final mission is located."

"I never agreed to the terms."

"Well, too bad. You were determined to be the next player before you were even born."

"That's not fair. Where's the first mission then?" Her fingers traced the lines on the lid.

"Life isn't fair. The answer to the whereabouts of the first mission is in the box. Reach in and pull something out." He grinned.

She rolled her eyes at his connotation and reached in. "What am I supposed to call you anyway?"

"Kyle. Where do we go from here? Symeria. That's a great place to start." Kyle held his arm out to hold her hand. With the other arm, he opened a bright door that hadn't been there before. "Are you ready?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"That's the spirit." He winked and escorted her through the open door leading them into a dark abyss.