The Siege of 7C: The 7C Stories, #2

By Alice Degan

When you live in an apartment where the rooms move around, with a faun and a yokai as roommates, fantasy role-playing games aren't as exciting as they used to be. But a solid knowledge of the game manuals may come in handy when confronted with a flock of otherworldly pigeons. Better that than feeding them magical cake, anyway.

Nick, Takehiko, and Yiannis, the tenants of 7C, return in a second adventure. This time with 100% more disgusting avian peril.

The Siege of 7C is the second of the 7C Stories. The first is The Tenants of 7C.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sexton's Cottage
• Release date: May 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9781988086255

Book preview

The Siege of 7C

THE SIEGE OF 7C

ALICE DEGAN

The Siege of 7C

Alice Degan

© 2023 by Alice Degan

Published March 2023 by Sexton’s Cottage Books.

All rights reserved.

Cover design by Alice Degan

Cover photo by Dan D. on Unsplash

CONTENTS

The Siege of 7C

Bonus Pages

Afterword

About the Author

Also by Alice Degan

THE SIEGE OF 7C

"S o here we are in the pitch dark—all the streetlights have been taken out, and there’s no moon. We know there are vampires in the street, but we don’t know how many. Then there’s the Undead Army moving down University from Queen’s Park, so we know we don’t have much time, and Maximus is still bleeding really bad. Then there’s this noise, like rushing water, and it gets louder and louder—it’s coming from somewhere up above us, but we don’t know where. And I’m still busy trying to keep the wards up around the perimeter, so it’s like—fuck!"

What did you do?

"Well, Ranjeet did a Perception roll—and he got a two, so Steve was like, ‘You can’t tell where it’s coming from.’"

Ouch. So what was it?

We still don’t know. Steve’s mom was having some scrapbooking party, and we had to leave.

Oh, man. That’s brutal.

"You’ve got to come next time, Nick. We totally could’ve used Varcolac yesterday."

Yeah … if I’m not too busy. You guys have got to game sometimes on nights when I’m not working.

Nick and Ryan were sitting on the couch at Subway, their alternative school, waiting their turns to see the teachers. It was a morning in early March. Nick was sleepy.

How come you have to deliver cakes at night, anyway? Ryan asked, stretching out his legs and sinking further into the sagging frame of the couch. I don’t get that—I mean, doesn’t the bakery make them during the day? So why can’t you deliver them earlier?

I just can’t. That’s the way it’s done.

Well, if you ask me, it’s weird.

Yeah, said Nick. It’s weird. Sure, he thought. Delivering cakes at night was about the least weird thing in his life.

Ryan flipped open the dog-eared sketchbook that he always carried around, and clicked his mechanical pencil. The last bit of lead fell out.

Hey, can I borrow a pencil?

Sorry. I’ve only got a pen.

Nick spotted a familiar figure coming through the front door into the main room of the school.

Move over, man, he said. Laura’s coming.

Move over so Laura can sit next to you?

"Whatever. Move over so she has somewhere to sit."

Laura waved from the outer room, where she propped her cane against the wall in order to peel off her winter coat.

I don’t get what you see in her, Ryan muttered. She’s so … mainstream.

Shut up, said Nick.

Ryan shifted over slightly on the couch, leaving a small space between himself and Nick. Laura came in and plopped down into it. She smelled of sun and cold air.

It’s nice out! she announced. It feels like spring.

Do you have a pencil?

Sure.

Laura fished a pencil case out of her bag and offered it to Ryan. Nick tried to edge his way further into his corner of the couch without seeming like he was trying to move away from Laura—which he wasn’t, really.

Me and Nick were talking about zombies, said Ryan, extracting a fancy-looking red art pencil from Laura’s case.

But we can stop now, said Nick.

Laura smiled and looked interested. She had a nice way of looking interested, Nick thought.

How are the zombies these days? she asked, leaning down to put her pencil case away again.

They’re trying to take over Toronto, said Ryan.

In a Shadow Legions game that we’re playing, said Nick, with some guys from Ryan’s old school.

"The school I got kicked out of, he means."

The school Ryan got kicked out of, I mean.

I see, said Laura. Is that—Shadow Legions, is that like Dungeons and Dragons?

Oh, please!

Yeah, said Nick. Basically.

It is totally different! For one thing, it’s not epic fantasy—

Okay, but they’re both RPGs—I think that’s what she meant. I—I mean, is that what you meant?

I don’t know. Laura smiled. Spike used to play Dungeons and Dragons.

Oh, said Nick.

There was an awkward pause, or at any rate a pause which felt awkward to Nick. Spike was Laura’s ex-boyfriend; it was Spike’s motorcycle that Laura had fallen off of two years ago, and that was why she walked with a cane now. Nick was never sure how he should react when Laura mentioned Spike. He wasn’t sure whether Spike was currently alive or not.

His character was a dwarf, Laura added. That’s all I know.

"Dwarves suck, said Ryan, sketching busily. When I used to play DnD, back at my old school, there was this loser—"

Ryan …  Nick tried to interrupt him.

—who played a dwarf, and—

Ryan! It was a teacher this time, calling from the main room of the school.

Oh, shit. I am so screwed for this test.

Good luck, man, said Nick.

Ryan heaved himself up from the couch and shambled off. Laura waved.

There was plenty of room on the couch now, but Laura didn’t move over. Nick leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He couldn’t think of anything to