[ WP ] You live in a video game . You are not the main character .

My husband barged into our little cottage, his forehead dotted with perspiration, and hurried into our bedroom. I put the lid back on the pot, wiped my hands on my apron and went to see what he was up to. 
 
 He was shoving clothes into a bag. The mattress had been overturned, and our meager savings hidden underneath was gone. 
 
 `` What're you doing?'' I said. 
 
 `` I do n't have time to explain,'' he said. `` Look, I need you to go pack some food—it might be a long trip, so get—'' 
 
 `` You're not making sense,'' I said. 
 
 He turned, placing his hands on my shoulders, and looked into my eyes with his own fearful ones. `` Our lives are in danger.'' 
 
 `` Fo' shizzle?'' I whispered. 
 
 He nodded. `` Get packing. You'll understand when we're on the road.'' 
 
 I pulled the apron over my head and tossed it aside as I rushed to the kitchen. Apart from a few strips of dried meat and an onion, there was n't much. Perhaps we could buy some bread from the town baker before we left. 
 
 While I was wrapping the meat in leather, my husband came into the living room, empty-handed. Hearing the creak of the floorboards under his feet, I turned to see him standing by the dining table with a dagger in his hand. 
 
 He was facing the door when he said, “ Bitch ’ s coming. ” 
 
 To my horror, I began putting all our rations back into the cupboards, my body moving of their own volition. That done, I went back to the pot and began stirring the soup again. The peppery scent made my eyes water, but I couldn ’ t even will my hands to wipe away the tears. 
 
 “ What ’ s going on, bae? ” I said. 
 
 Our cottage shook as a mighty blow slammed into our door and knocked it clean off its hinges. In strode a seven-foot-tall, golden-haired woman wielding a hammer-ax. Her piercing, ice-blue eyes scanned our home before settling on my husband. 
 
 “ I ’ ve come for you, thief! ” she cried. 
 
 *Thief? * I thought. *What the devil is she talking about? * I tried to ask, but my mouth remained resolutely shut. 
 
 “ Begone, vile woman! ” my husband retorted. “ An outlander holds no authority in Pillemont! ” 
 
 *Pillemont? I thought we lived in Gravemeadow? And since when did my husband speak like that? * 
 
 “ So says the thief, ” the woman said. “ Why did you do it? ” 
 
 *Naichim ’ s a thief? He would never do such a thing! * 
 
 “ I ’ m not a thief! ” my husband said. “ Where is your proof? ” 
 
 “ I witnessed your act personally! ” 
 
 Naichim scoffed. “ That is no proof at all. Leave, before I call the guards! ” 
 
 The woman abruptly turned away and began opening our cupboards one by one. I watched her from the corner of my eye as I continued stirring the stupid soup. *Damn, why can ’ t I move? * I tried to whisper to Naichim, but he wasn ’ t looking my way. He wasn ’ t even looking at the woman. 
 
 She came to my side and said, “ Your husband is a thief. Have you noticed any unusual behavior from him recently? ” 
 
 *No, of course not, * I thought. But I said, “ He did come home in a hurry … ” 
 
 *What the frickin ’ bananas? Why did I say that? * 
 
 She nodded and began searching the shelves. When she found the dried meat, she promptly stuffed them into her waist pouch. 
 
 *Thief! * 
 
 Going back to my husband, she said, “ I ’ ve come for you, thief! ” 
 
 “ Begone, vile woman! ” my husband retorted. “ An outlander holds no authority in Pillemont! ” 
 
 “ So says the thief. Why did you do it? ” 
 
 “ I ’ m not a thief! Where is your proof? ” 
 
 She took a bloodied feather out of her pouch. “ This is proof, right here. Found on your doorstep. ” 
 
 My husband laughed. “ Borys sent you, didn ’ t he? Oh, how he must have wailed when his prized rooster was gone. Too bad, I ’ ve eaten the cursed bird and you ’ ll have to cut it out of me! ” 
 
 *You did what, Naichim? Oh God, I ’ m so confused! * 
 
 “ You have a choice to make, thief. ” She raised her weapon. “ Either come quietly, or die. ” 
 
 *I ’ m sure the magistrate will sort this misunderstanding out, * I pleaded telepathically to him. *Just go with her! * 
 
 “ I ’ ll gut you like a fish! ” he yelled. 
 
 *She ’ s a foot taller than you! * I thought, but could only watch helplessly as he took a swing at her. The feeble blow glanced off her armor, and then she caved in his skull with a single strike of her hammer. 
 
 “ Murderer, ” I yelled, grabbing a knife. *No … what now? * “ Thief he may have been, but I ’ ll avenge my husband! ” *I don ’ t want to avenge him! * 
 
 My skirts swished as I charged at her, and she promptly chopped me into two with the ax. As I lay on the ground, bleeding, consciousness fading, I thought I heard a disembodied laugh coming from the heavens while the woman ransacked our bedroom. 
 
 *** 
 
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