13elieve (Short story collection)

Russian Roulette

Today was Riley Rhodes' 23rd birthday. All he really wanted to do today was to go to work, then hang out with his five best friends, who he met in school ten years ago, and who have since became a second family to him. 23 was not a milestone birthday, so they would probably just have a few drinks, and hang out. What Riley did not know, was that his friends were going to take him out clubbing. They knew that Riley really enjoyed partying, and that this would be a nice surprise for him, but before they took him clubbing, they decided to take him out to dinner to his favorite restaurant. They would have hung out with him all day, but Riley had to work until 6. They figured that despite Riley having to work, they could still take him out and have a fun night. After dinner, they decided to hang out for a little, because it seemed a little too early to go clubbing.

They got into the club a little after 11, and the second Riley stepped on the dance floor, all of his stress was relieved. Not only was his job, that he didn't even like, incredibly stressful, but Riley also had family problems. He was the only child, and when he was only nine years old, his mom died. After his mom died, Riley's dad was diagnosed with depression, and he soon became an alcoholic. By the time Riley moved out for college, at the age of eighteen, his dad was a non-functioning alcoholic. When Riley would return home, his dad was either drunk, or planning to get drunk. Whenever he was drunk, Riley's dad would get very violent with him. One time, when Riley was twenty, his dad pushed him down a flight of stairs, and Riley broke his leg, two of his ribs, his arm, and had a slight concussion. Riley decided after that, that he never wanted to see his father again, and he has not heard from him since. That's why Riley's friends meant so much to him. They were like the family that Riley no longer had.

Every time they went clubbing, they would have a lot to drink, and today was no exception. Within the first hour, all six of them were completely drunk, yet they kept partying. They partied for another three and a half hours, until they decided that they should head home. One of the bouncers saw the six of them leaving, and did not want any of them driving, so he got Riley's address and dropped the six of them off there. Apparently, they did not celebrate enough at the club, because they drank even more at Riley's.

This led them to do some completely insane, and stupid, decisions. One of these ideas was to play Russian Roulette. They all thought that this was a good idea. One friend went to get the gun, and another friend told him to take out the bullets, and he agreed. They had the gun and sat in a circle. There were six people, and six bullet slots that could possibly have a bullet in them. They decided that Riley should go last, since it was his birthday, so they went around the circle. The first friend went, put the gun up to his head, pulled the trigger, and he dropped dead. The second figured there was only one bullet in the gun, so he put the gun to his head, but he too was shot dead. The third friend decided to keep playing, put the gun up to his head, pulled the trigger, and a bullet went through his head and he died as well. The fourth friend, who had always been a little arrogant, decided that luck was on his side, put the gun up to his head, pulled the trigger, and fell dead. Most people would have realized that the gun did not have five bullets removed, and that pulling the trigger would basically be suicide, but the fifth friend was too drunk to realize. He too put the gun up to his head, pulled the trigger, and fell dead.

Riley then realized the seriousness of the situation. Not only were there five dead bodies in his house, but the dead bodies were also his five favorite people. Growing up, the sudden loss of his mom, and the gradual loss of his dad were too much for him. That's when he met these five in school, and they filled in the spot of his family. It pained him to lose his first family, but losing his second family crushed him. The longer he looked at the motionless bodies, the more devastated he became. He had no idea what he should do, but then he saw the gun. He checked the bullets, and saw that there was one left, and that he would have died, if he did not have a sudden moment of sobriety. This freaked him out, and he made the stupid mistake of having another drink. This drink made him go back to being drunk, and he went over to the gun, put it to his head, pulled the trigger and fell dead. The phone rang, seconds after Riley's lifeless body dropped to the ground, but since no body could answer it, it left a message

"Hey Riley," the phone said, "it's dad, and I wanted to apologize for my alcoholism, and I wanted to let you know that I have been to rehab and I am now sober. Anyway, hopefully I can see you soon. Call me when you get a chance. Love you. Bye."