Virtual Reality: Dark Days

When She Died

Ten years ago, Shamar Lee was a United States federal agent. During this time, he had a partner. That partner was Tobias Dunn. The two, at the time, were working on a case that was going into 9 weeks now. Most agents within the bureau were most keen on taking cases that didn't extend over a natural time period. Unlike those agents, Tobias and Shamar were rather fond of them. They enjoyed the longer cases due to how rewarding it was to finish them in the end. It made the ending that much more pleasuring. Tobias would often be the driver for these investigations, Shamar did most of the talking to the potential suspects and victims during the investigation. He had a good way with words, which is why Tobias always let him take the lead. Sleeping was something Shamar always favored doing whenever he could. It would often cause him to get called things by his colleagues, but Shamar never cared. Nor did Tobias, who mostly did all the driving and talking. Shamar was considered the smartest. Tobias would always make fun of him for it. It didn’t work on affecting Shamar though. He would give a slight glare at his partner and give him the finger just to be playful. Tobias loved being around Shamar for the soul purpose of teasing the man. It was always easy to tease Shamar from Tobias' point of view. The agent would make remarks or faces that caused Tobias to smile about it. They had one of the best parts of their friendship.

“You know,” Shamar said after his partner alerted him of their arrival at headquarters. “It’s not wise to wake me up.”

“Oh,” Tobias laughed. “I don’t care. But a thank you would be nice, by the way. We’re close to the office and I’d hate to have to leave you in the car again.”

Shamar shook his head at the memory of Tobias allowing Shamar to sleep in the car for nearly three hours. As mentioned before, Tobias loved to mess with Shamar anyway he could. He would even allow his partner to stay in the car while it was parked in the garage. Many things like this made Tobias enjoy their partnership.

The two arrived at headquarters and headed to their desks to write their reports to the director. It was yet again another useless investigation with the potential suspect not even being considered a suspect anymore. But the director wanted a report as soon as they got back. So Shamar was fast at work trying to get this all typed out. All he thought about was hurrying and sending this report over to the director. Tobias, on the other hand, was feeling more relaxed. He knew that it wasn't that big of a deal to hand this report in, since it didn't really mean much. They hadn't found any new evidence to get them ahead in the case. He sat at Shamar’s desk with a mug of coffee in hand. Seeing that his partner's eyes were all on his computer screen,

“What’s got you so tense?” Tobias asked, noticing how fast Shamar was typing away at his computer.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Shamar asked, keeping his eyes on the monitor. “I’m trying to do my job. Which you should be doing since the director got your ass about the late report.”

“I don’t really care too much about lateness.” Tobias took a sip of his coffee. “Besides, I get them in. That’s all that matters.”

“You just don’t get it.” Shamar finally stopped typing to look at his partner. “You just get scolded for being late. I get worse.”

“Show them you’re not the type to be messed with.” Tobias shoved Shamar slightly. “Come on man, it’s all about intimidation. You show them fear, they dominate you every time. You show them domination, they show you fear in their own bossy way. Which is why I get scolded."

Tobias smirked at Shamar, who only just chuckled at his privileged partner and turned back to his monitor to continue typing. It was true. Tobias had an air about him that made the director want to be so much more upset with the agent than he showed. Shamar didn't. He wasn't a pushover, but definitely didn't show much dominance in the office. He had no reason to. Everyone there was cool enough to be relaxed around. Plus, he needed the job to help take care of someone special at home. But next thing he knew, he was getting a call on his cell phone from that very special someone.

“Oops.” Tobias laughed. “Looks like someone’s gonna have to take a class in domination.”

“f**k you.” Shamar pulled out his cell phone and saw his girlfriend Kaylen's caller I.D. appear. Just the sight of her picture appearing on his screen made him eager to answer. She made him into the man that he is today. He also couldn’t resist answering the phone since she usually only calls him during his work hours for emergencies. That's when fear set in. “Hello?”

“Guess what baby?!” Kaylen answered fast and excitedly.

“What’s going on?” Shamar asked.

“I got the job!” Kaylen screamed into the phone with a bit of cheering happening after. It was so loud that Tobias even heard it. “That’s right! You’re now looking at an animator for Virtual Reality!”

“Congratulations girl!” Shamar gave Kaylen a small but very happy cheer. “I’m glad you have finally found a place that makes you happy!”

“It really does babe!” Kaylen said. “So, I was thinking about how we are gonna celebrate? Wine? Weed? s*x?”

“All of the above,” Shamar agreed with excitement. “I can’t wait. I’ll be home soon. Okay?”

“Yes!” Kaylen said. “You do what you gotta do!”

The call ended and Shamar placed the phone back in his pocket. There was nothing else he could possibly do than be happy for her. But then he gave it some thought. This was an achievement for sure. A gaming company as popular as the one she got hired for was worth celebrating. She had basically gone to school just to work for a big-time company that could use her skills. Kaylen had been struggling to find a job after school. Not a lot of workplaces were trying to hire her due to the low amount of experience she had animating for major properties. Most of her friends would try to get her hired at their jobs, but those jobs were all looking for where she'd been and not what she learned in a classroom. The fact that this VR company took her in made it all well. They were huge. Trended almost every time the game got updated. Whenever Shamar even heard the game get brought up, there was nothing but praise of it. So even if things didn’t work out, she’d still be noticed by animating companies all around trying to find new and exciting talent. They'd likely hire her faster than any company ever did for her recently. This was going to be good for her and for them. With the company being so valued in the gaming world, she was sure to have a pretty good starting price. And with time she could grow in both experience and money.

“So what was that all about?” Tobias asked, seeming to be very curious.

“Oh nothing.” Shamar tried keeping the news to himself for the time being.

“Come on.” Tobias got close to Shamar. “That was a lot of noise for nothing.”

“Okay.” Shamar caved in. “Kaylen got a job working for that famous video game company.”

“You mean VR?” Tobias asked, being caught off guard by this news. “I had no idea they still had room to hire?”

“Right!” Shamar had even thought about that himself. “But I guess they’re still hiring. You thinking about applying for a position?”

“Ha!” Tobias laughed, taking a sip of coffee. “I’m happy right where I’m at.”

Seven months later, Shamar starts to notice a difference in tone with Kaylen. She worked more than she had when first starting off the company. The time of night she’d be coming through the door was nearly around the same time that Shamar would be leaving to head into the office. It wasn't that big of a deal to start, but soon Shamar began missing the quality time they experienced together. They weren’t seeing each other as much as this was starting to affect Shamar. And whenever Shamar and Kaylen were with each other, he saw how unhappy she was. Not with him. But with something else. He missed seeing his girlfriend happy. Shamar wasn't quite sure what they were having her do but it definitely was wearing her body out. Now she just seemed very tired and overworked. Seven months ago, her income was good, but since then it has skyrocketed. Since they shared an account, Shamar had taken notice of the amounts coming in from the company. The money they were paying her almost even rivaled his own, but the cost wasn’t good enough for what she was being put through. Shamar had seen this happen for too long. He wanted his girlfriend back. Going to the company themselves would only cause a problem for Kaylen. He wanted to pull her to the side and talk with her. Enough was enough. Shamar needed to end this before his girlfriend ruined herself.

He waited one night for her, hoping to work out a solution for her sake. He had expected her to be home an hour ago but, like always, her clock off times were unpredictable. When the door was opened, Shamar rose to his feet. He and his girlfriend made eye contact for the first time for almost a week. Kaylen was honestly surprised to see him awake and greeted him as happily as she could. She was tired. There was no happiness in her smile. Shamar had expected to see that smile, but was met with half of it. She placed her bag on the floor and began heading into the bedroom. Shamar followed her after noticing how worn out she looked.

“Baby!” Shamar called out to her. Kaylen, for some reason, wasn’t even giving him the attention he was trying to get. “Kaylen!”

“Baby!” Kaylen tried calming her boyfriend down before he alerted the neighbors and caused a situation with them. “Relax.”

“Relax?” Shamar didn’t understand why she couldn’t see how bad things were getting. Her once healthy hair now looked dried up and ready for death. “Are you not seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Yes!” Kaylen knew, but she wasn’t ready to have this conversation. “I see it! But what do you want me to do? I’m working for us!”

“So am I!” Shamar was telling the truth. The amount of time he had to put into cases was insane. But the director gave him so many cases because of how smart he was. There was no way around it. “But you don’t see me looking like the Corpses Bride!”

“How dare you?!” Kaylen honestly felt hurt to hear her boyfriend refer to her in such a gross way. He’d usually been so gentle with her that she barely recognized the person in front of her. “I don’t have time like that anymore!”

“And why is that?!” Shamar asked. “Is it because you’re spending too much time with your boyfriend? Or your friends? What about your mom? How has she been?”

“Why are you doing this?” Kaylen knew that Shamar was right. She hadn’t even texted or received texts from her friends in nearly ten weeks. To some, that’s not bad, but for her and her friends, that was as bad as a year.

“Baby.” Shamar sat his girlfriend down on her bed. “You gotta take some time off. I know you’ve accumulated some since working there. Talk to your boss and tell him you want some time off. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Okay,” Kaylen agreed. She felt emotional. It was getting to the point that she even forgot what season they were in. All she knew was she had to get up and get to work. Nothing else mattered. Not the time. Not the season. Nothing. It seemed like everything had escaped her. Her life was nearly gone because of this job. While she loved to draw, she loved it as much as she did seven months ago. It is like a chore now. Something she had to do, instead of wanting to do it. Kaylen hugged Shamar, feeling terrible for even putting him through this. It came down to the point that this job was affecting her life and the lives of the people around her. She wanted to live happily with this job. It was starting to seem as though this job wasn't her definition of happiness anymore. The word she would now use to describe it was dreadful. No amount of time off would change her mind. As difficult as it was to find a job, she didn't care to do it again at that point. With seven months of working for this company under her belt, she could very well look for a new job that would love to hire her based off her previous work experience.

During one of her days off, Kaylen had begun sending her new and updated resume to other animation jobs in the city. While she thought about looking for places outside of New York, she wanted to stay relatively close to home for now. Kaylen felt good about this idea. All of the places she applied to gave her a sense of comfort. Even if it was all a front just to get people hired, she looked forward to starting at some place new. Knowing that there would be a job out there that was less stressful than this one made her feel at ease. Kaylen even took this time to get back in touch with all those she had lost contact with. While they understood in the beginning, they quickly gave her confidence to move on. Shamar had noticed her typing cover letters to these companies. The energy she had. It was the same energy she once carried before working for the company. Things were finally going back to normal after what felt like years. He gave her a kiss on the cheek, feeling good about where all of this was going to take his girlfriend. But then he looked even closer and saw that the cover letter she was writing was not actually a cover letter at all. It was a two-week notice of resignation letter.

“Baby,” Shamar said. “Are you quitting your job?”

“Yes,” Kaylen said, turning to her boyfriend and wrapping her arms around him. “It’s time.”

The two shared a kiss and before things could get any more heated, Kaylen’s email notification sound went off. Her and Shamar stopped what they were doing and looked at the screen. Both of them hoping for some good news from a new job. And that's exactly what it was. A job offer from an animation studio she sent her resume to!

“Holy s**t!” Kaylen cheered. She turned and hugged Shamar, feeling free from the shackles of working for Virtual Reality. Then another email came from another animation studio she applied for. It almost seemed as though someone saw her struggle and wanted her to be free from it. Two different job offerings at once. Both with similar pay but higher pay than her current job!

“No way!” Shamar said, looking at the screen with astonishment. These companies really were fascinated by the video game studio so much that they’d hire anyone from the company. Anyone that could help them grow the way the Virtual Reality game was growing was someone they wanted. Kaylen couldn’t help but hug her boyfriend. A new beginning was on the way for them.

With the two different animation studios wanting to hire her, Kaylen placed her two-week notice on the desk of the C.E.O. of Virtual Reality; Jason Callahan. It was her first time meeting Jason since she accidentally caught the same elevator with him. He grabbed the sheet of paper and read through it very slowly. Just the sight of it made him upset. He knew exactly what it was as soon as she placed it on his desk. The company had paid her so well, he figured she'd never want to leave. Unfortunately, they needed her. She had become really good at crafting the world he envisioned. So good that the company was seeing an increase in praise on social media because of the animation department. Jason wanted to try and convince her to reconsider this, since her leaving would place a big gap in the update next month. He looked her in the eyes and saw that she was serious about it. The seriousness alone made him upset. He knew that it was too late for words. There was nothing he could say to get her to change her mind. Kaylen was done.

“Are you sure?” Jason asked. “You literally just got here?”

“I know,” Kaylen said strongly. “But my boyfriend is getting worried and, quite frankly, so am I.”

“Look.” Jason said, rising from his desk to try to plead with her before she left his office for good. “You’re a good worker. We could really use your help. I know that it’s hard work, but we can take that load off you and hire someone to be your right-hand person. Anyone. You name it.”

“I’m sorry sir,” Kaylen said. “But I wouldn’t want to put that burden on anyone. So I’m sorry, but you’ll have to choose a replacement for me.”

Jason understood. There was no other way around this. Kaylen was done working under him. After this conversation he'd likely never see her work for him again. One of his best was leaving. And she didn't even want to find a replacement. He knew he would have to find someone fast to either replicate her work or do something similar. He walked back over to his desk, defeated and annoyed.

“Well,” Jason said. “At least tell me the lucky people you’ll be working for. I’d love to put in a good word for you.”

“I don't know yet.” Kaylen lied. She knew well enough not to reveal your next job to your boss. Especially when they beg for you to stay. “Have a good day.”

Kaylen had left Jason alone in his office. He was aware she was lying. The sight of her leaving like she’d won made him feel sick. Those hands and that mind would now belong to someone else and make them wealthy. He couldn’t let anyone else in this industry have her. She was way too valuable and, plus, she made the mistake of leaving without his permission. Payback was on his mind. Jason wasn’t ready to let that happen or let her get away with that. Either she was going to come back inside the office to get hired or she was done. He pulled out his cell phone and called a number to help make one of these possibilities come true.

“Yes,” Jason said to the person on the line. “I have another job for you.”

Kaylen was making her way home after putting in her notice of resignation. She'd never quit a job as big as Virtual Reality. It was something she was scared of at first. Now, she felt like a woman that could do anything. A woman that definitely deserved some one on one time with her boyfriend. After so long, they deserved a happy moment. Something to get her excited about her next steps! She began calling Shamar, hoping that he’d prepare himself for what was coming home. Because it was going to be hot.

“Hello?” Shamar answered.

“Hey baby.” Kaylen said proudly. “I did it!”

“You did it?” Shamar asked, just to make sure he heard her right.

“I sure did!” Kaylen said with a grin on her face.

“That's good, baby.” Shamar felt good that she was making moves like this without fear getting in her way. “I’m really proud of you. I know we’ve had our rough times but I really feel good about this next job.”

“I do too.” Kaylen said happily. “So how are we going to celebrate…”

Kaylen had been cut short of speaking when she felt a sudden sharpness pierce through her stomach. A pain that she'd never had before. Something was off. She looked to see what was causing this pain and saw a bloody wound that seemed to only get bloodier by the second. Kaylen had been stabbed. It wasn't even an accident. The blade had been shoved directly into the middle of her gut. She turned around to see who might’ve been her attacker. But as she looked around, she saw someone familiar. A face. A face that she only recognized through pictures on her boyfriend's phone.

“Tobias…?” Kaylen said shortly before falling to the ground.

“Tobias?” Shamar asked, puzzled. “What’s he doing?”

Shamar received no response from Kaylen. Only a harsh dropping sound and people gasping. At one point, a person even began to shout for someone to call an ambulance! Whatever was going on, Kaylen never responded to any of the words Shamar yelled into the phone. He went to find his woman using the location of her cell phone.

Shamar moved fast but by the time he got there, a crowd of people had already amassed near an ambulance truck. As much as he wanted to cry, thinking the worst, he had to see what was going on. Shamar rushed through the crowd hoping that the person they were surrounding wasn’t Kaylen. No one in the crowd even resembled Kaylen either. Maybe she just dropped her phone after witnessing something traumatic. Shamar eventually got through the crowd and saw a large amount of blood on the pavement with the paramedics loading a filled body bag back into the ambulance.

Shamar had to find out who was in that bag, no matter who stopped him. Tabitha Waller, who was sent to investigate, saw Shamar coming fast and had to stop him. She ordered him to stay behind the yellow tape but Shamar only thought about getting to the paramedics.

“That might be my baby!” Shamar shouted at Tabitha. It changed her complete view of the situation. Tabitha saw the pain in his eyes and feared that he might actually be telling the truth. She turned to see the bag with the body inside and remembered that the victim was holding her cell phone before she died. The cell phone Shamar held in his hand didn't leave her with much else to think about. Tabitha put all this information together and knew that Shamar had to see it for himself.

He unzipped it with the paramedics' permission. When they tried to stop him, Tabitha alerted them that it was okay. They too began to put it all together as Shamar wrestled with the zipper unnervingly. Tabitha walked over and helped him lower the zipper with his trembling hands. The two brought it down together and all it took was one look for Shamar to know that it was Kaylen. He stopped. Everything stopped for him. Kaylen was dead. She had likely died on the phone with Shamar. Someone like her didn't deserve such a heartless death. But it happened. Shamar had been reminded of his surroundings and apologized to the paramedics that he had caused trouble. Even during such a harsh time, he couldn't let his actions be affected by others. The paramedics understood Shamar's pain. While none of them had gone through something as traumatic as this, they knew the young gentleman would be in pain.

Tabitha saw Shamar getting weak in the knees and helped him stand up straight. She looked at his eyes and saw that they weren't the same anymore. The entire time she spoke to him, he heard the sound but only thought of Kaylen. Nothing she said mattered to him. All he thought about was the fact that she was murdered and the person who did it might have been the last name she ever uttered out of her mouth.

The bar was the only place Tobias thought himself worthy of entering. He had just committed a crime so bad that he couldn't take one look in the mirror. The sins of what he had caused would soon come to haunt him, he hoped. He was a killer, no doubt about it. With every drink, Tobias felt no better about the kill he had just made. He figured that alcohol of the strongest kind would help settle his mind, but it only made it more painful. He was reminded of what he saw when he first attacked her. A part of him was disgusted with himself. Tobias really had a plan for all of this but Jason wanted no part of it. He honestly wanted Kaylen dead. Before even making the hit, Tobias wanted to tell Shamar what had happened. But that would only cause Tobias to be thrown into the fire of all the other kills he made for Jason. No matter how much it hurt, he had to keep this a secret. Shamar had loved Kaylen. Every time he had the chance, her name would come out of his mouth. She was a part of his very being and now, because of Tobias, that name would only signify pain and sorrow. Her death would linger in both of their minds forever. Finding another branch was probably best for Tobias, right now. No amount of alcohol would allow him to get over this now. He was stuck with the dying image of Kaylen just before he collapsed. He had committed so many deaths around the country that he was beginning to forget their faces. But somehow, Tobias knew this one would stick. And sticking was not something he wanted this time. If Shamar were to ever find out, it would ruin their friendship forever.

“Dunn!” Shamar shouted as he entered the bar. “You killed her!”

Tobias and a bunch of other people turned to a confused and enraged Shamar. Tobias wasn't entirely surprised that Shamar came to the conclusion of who might have murdered Kaylen. It was possible that Kaylen was alive long enough to tell Shamar this. All he could do now was brace for whatever Shamar was going to do to him. No words were going to save him from this one. Shamar was going to try and kill him.

“It’s not what you think.” Tobias put his hands up. “I was given an order!”

Shamar was quick to point a gun at Tobias, causing everyone inside to freak out. Tobias had no time to defend himself. Shamar could pull the trigger at any moment. Things were getting heated fast and people could see it. No matter what the bartender told them to do, none of them listened.

“Do you really think killing me is going to make things easier?” Tobias asked. “You don’t get it. She was killed by her boss. He asked me to do it because I’m one of the best.”

“Your words don’t mean s**t to me.” Shamar barked out. “It was something you could have walked away from!”

“Don’t do this partner.” Tobias begged Shamar, knowing he’d have to hurt him. But there was no other choice. The only thing Shamar had in his mind now was murder. He was going to rip Tobias apart for what he'd done to Kaylen. Nothing or no one was going to stop him. Tobias wasn't ready to die. Shamar was ready to end this entire thing and put Tobias down for the count. Due to his quick reflexes, Tobias was able to avoid death this time. He moved forward as Shamar pulled the trigger, grabbed the gun and shoved Shamar to the floor with one hand. The two looked into each others eyes. Both seeing the pain in each others eyes. One saw how much they didn't care. One felt the love of their partnership. A partnership that had ended on this day. Neither one of them would ever dare seek the other out. But they knew the day they'd meet again, only one would be left alive.

Tobias let Shamar keep the gun, but left him on the floor.

He paid the bartender his money for the drinks and left. The entire walk back to his car, Tobias knew that it was over for him and Shamar. They were no longer friends. They were no longer partners. The fun times they shared would only become bitter memories…