Returning to the scene of the crime

The pair took a few moments to recover from their respective orgasms. Dismounting him Jasmine giggled, “For someone with no experience, that was quite satisfying.”

“We had sex, oh my god, that was amazing. I’m not a virgin anymore, I can’t believe it.” A beaming smile was plastered on his face, as he spoke. “You know I have a pocket pussy that claims to be as good as the real thing. After experiencing the real thing, I can say for certain that I was ripped off.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” A towel was tossed into his face. “Now, use that to wipe yourself down, we've got stuff to do. We took a tad bit longer than expected.”

John began the cleaning process with the towel he received, when a flood of messages appeared. ’I guess Gaia figured these would be distracting before.’ Thanking the deity in his mind for her discretion, he decided to look through the multiple messages he’d gotten.

New Skill unlocked: Cunnilingus Lvl 1
Gain basic knowledge in the art of cunnilingus. Increases pleasure given to any women you perform oral sex on by 2%.

Achievement unlocked: POP goes the cherry!
Finally lose your virginity.
Reward 1 inch to your base penis size. Also +3 END to help with your stamina.

New Skill unlocked: Fucking Lvl 1
Gain basic knowledge on how to properly fuck your partner. Increases pleasure felt by you and your partner during penetrative intercourse by 2%.

Quest Complete: Virgin no more.
Rewards +5 CHA, Psychometry skill received.

New Skill unlocked: Psychometry Lvl 1
Use this skill by touching inanimate objects to view events or a person associated with it.
Cost 10 MP, cooldown 4 hours.

“I knew something was off, suddenly your prowess had increased. I figured you were good at reading signals or just really lucky. Later I felt fuller and thought it was your second burst of sudden prowess. That was only two percent?” she gasped. John didn’t need to be a mind reader to tell that she was curious about the other ninety-eight percent or if the skill could exceed one hundred percent. Her perverted gaze that focused on his dick told the tale. “That voyeuristic goddess is spoiling you way too much.” Complaining about his powers, she gave him a playful punch. “One day I might find myself writing a story about John Newman the Vagina Whisperer.” Mocking him, she slowly moved her hand in the air as she talked of her hypothetical headline.

“Ha, ha, very funny,” John returned a sarcastic laugh to the teasing, but then he had no reservations at the prospect of levelling his sex-related skills. Shaking his head, he decided to focus on the skill he acquired from the completed quest. “This Psychometry skill seems like just what I needed. Gaia wasn’t lying; she said it was a useful skill. Besides the long cooldown, this seems like just the skill I need to track down Meadow.” He beamed, excited by the idea of using Psychometry to find his missing friend. Finally done with the towel, he manipulated his menu to equip his clothes again, but realized that he still hadn’t gotten his new uniform. “Hey, Jasmine, I still need a change of clothes. Can I have them?”

“Forgot about that, here you go,” she responded, handing him two clear plastic packages containing the Ashcroft uniform. “I bought two for you since you ruined two. After you get dressed, shoot your mom another text to be safe. Tell her you’ll be home in thirty minutes or so.” The woman squeezed back into the driver’s seat, ready to leave. Then she pulled out a spray bottle and spritzed John with it a few times. She also tossed a mint at him. “Almost forgot, not sure how your mother would have taken it if you came home smelling like sex. Eat the mint to eliminate any lingering pussy breath.”

“Thanks, that would have been a very hard conversation to have.” Graciously accepting her generous offer, he tossed the mint into his mouth. His attention back on the menu, he dragged the uniform onto his avatar.

Error, item can not be equipped.

’What, why?’ he asked himself. Examining the packets in his inventory, he realized each was considered one item. Pulling out one of them, he proceeded to open it and unpacked his new clothes before tossing them back into his inventory. This time he could equip his clothes properly. He sent his mother a text message updating his timetable. A moment later, he received a ‘see you soon’ from Brenda.

Two minutes later they were parked in front of Meadow’s house. “Seems like some of your neighbors are still being nosy busybodies,” Jasmine said, pointing out a few places that people were peeking at her vehicle. “You should enter using the barrier, since it extends to the street. They’ll be suspicious if no one exits the car. I’ll greet my friends in the squad car so they assume I’m part of the police and then meet you inside,” she instructed him, exiting the car.

Taking her advice the Gamer entered the barrier. He walked into the duplicate copy of the house. He half expected there to be more Scavenger Rabbits when he entered, but nothing had changed within the barrier, to his knowledge. Taking a seat on the stairs, John exited the barrier.

The first thing he noticed in the house were yellow markers with numbers printed on them scattered in the entry. “Please be alright, Meadow.”

After a minute the ebony reporter entered through the front door and saw him sitting on the stairs with a sullen face. “Are you ok? It’s probably not easy seeing this again,” she asked, showing her concern for him.

“Not really, but that won’t stop me,” he responded, full of conviction. “I’ve experienced so many new things in one short day, actually technically less than a day. All I want to do is talk it over with my friend, but some asshole took her. Let’s get this over with, I need some good news,” he suggested; there was a hint of anger in his voice.

“That’s good. As long as you don’t let those feelings overwhelm you, everything should be alright,” she reminded him to keep a level head. “Just from entering this house, one of my theories seems to have been on the nose. Probably to prevent the attention of large guilds, the kidnapper altered the crime scene after exiting the barrier,” she said, after looking at the entry and the living room.

“What if the barrier was created before today?” John inquired, trying not to rush to any conclusions.

“If that were the case, the barrier’s point of origin being the same as where we found a gun with bullet casings would be a monumental coincidence. It’s not impossible, but until proven otherwise, let’s work under the barrier is new. Alright?” the woman responded to his query. After he nodded to her request, they started to look around the house.

Fifteen minutes later they were in the kitchen. “Jasmine, what’re the chances of a police investigator throwing things in the trash at a crime scene?” he asked, staring into the trash can.

“Nil, unless the officers on scene were incompetent, but there has been a string of missing girls recently, so the police are taking this case very seriously.” She made her way over to him. “Why, is there anything unusual in the trash?”

“Peanuts, Meadow doesn’t eat peanuts.” Replying to her request, he pointed at the empty bag of peanuts situated at the top of the trash.

Jasmine lifted the bag with a shadow to not contaminate the item. “It’s just a bag of peanuts, maybe she had a sudden craving for them. I checked her medical records and there's no mention of a peanut allergy,” she countered, examining the bag.

“There’s no way she had a craving for them. Peanuts traumatized her when we were kids. She’s not allergic but her mother was,” John pointed out.

“Shortly after she learned how to cook, Ruth’s birthday was coming up. To surprise her, Meadow asked my mom if she could bake some brownies for her. Mom left us to prepare, only warning us to stay away from the stove. We used a packaged mix, so calling it cooking was honestly a stretch, but we were having fun. As kids, we didn’t know the difference between cooking oils, so we grabbed the closest one to us which was a bottle of unrefined peanut oil.

“Later we went over to Meadow’s, the two of us proud about the brownies we made. My mom joked about the mess we’d left behind. Ruth asked if we put nuts in the brownies, which we didn’t, so we both said no. A few moments later, she was gasping for air, taking a shot. The ambulance had to come. She was fine after spending some time in the emergency room, but it scared Meadow to ****. Heck, it scared me as well, I didn’t eat peanut butter for at least a year or two. A few weeks ago I brought some Reese’s over for a movie night and she tossed them in the trash,” John explained the whole story of why he was so sure.

“Gotcha, if that’s the case, you should use your new skill on this bag, maybe it can lead us in the right direction.”

“It can’t hurt.” With a shrug he activated his skill.

Images of a gruff black-haired man flooded his mind. The skill was disorienting; the Gamer stumbled back, but before he could trip Jasmine caught him. “Ugh, that was nauseating.” Grasping his forehead, he tried to stabilize himself with her help.

“Are you alright? What did you see?” Jasmine asked with concern.

Fighting a headache he focused on what the man looked like. “I saw a man. It’s hard to sort all the images, but one of the ones I saw was him looking down at Meadow **** next to the gun while eating some peanuts,” he answered, furious at the man’s nonchalance toward harming his friend.

“Good, describe him to me. Try to give as many details as possible. Describe the environment of the other images.”

Enduring the pain he focused on the man’s appearance. “He is a tall caucasian man, he has short black hair and black eyes. He has a scar, no, not a scar, a tattoo on his right hand, a moth, I think. I saw him drinking at some bar, I can’t really make out any features. My head is throbbing,” he groaned, grasping the reporter’s shoulder to stabilize himself.

“It’s fine, John. You gave me a pretty decent description. I think it’s best we get you home for now. I’ll look into this mystery man tonight. Come on, I’ll bring you home.” The pair made their way to the front door. Jasmine made sure no one was watching before helping him to her car.

A minute later they were in front of his house. “Go in and rest. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning. What time do you usually catch the bus?”

“I need to catch the eight seventeen bus,” he answered, relieved the pain finally started easing up a little.

“I’ll see you then at the bus stop. Go rest.”

“See you tomorrow.” Exiting the car John composed himself as he entered his house.

As soon as the door closed, Brenda rushed over to greet him with a warm smile and a hug. “Welcome home, sweetie. You don’t look too well. Are you alright?” she asked full of worry.

“Hey Mom. I was thinking about Meadow on my way here. I’ve just got a bit of a headache. I’m going to go lay down if you don’t mind.”

“Don’t worry, John, the police will find her,” she responded, trying to reassure him. “Let me know if you need anything. Good night, sweetie.”

“Good night, Mom. I’ll see you in the morning.” Making his way up toward his room, he thought about how the police probably couldn’t help her. Unequipping his clothes, save for his boxers, he collapsed in his bed, drifting off as soon as his head hit the pillow.