Infinite Games

14. To Kill A King

"What's the matter?"

Her voice. I had never known something so pure could come from a mortal --digressing, my old life had been the lesser crap that shit scraped off its own shoes. Like a bird's sweet morning song, the delicacy and ease of Joon's words flittered across the room and landed on my ears. Pleasantry only began to describe it. The fact that something so audibly enjoyable came from someone so visibly difficult, it was a marvel.

Interrupted, Taiko turned to her and expelled, "Nothing. Simon and I were just getting acquainted. Say, does he look familiar to you, dear?"

The words he said caught in my throat. But, I had been a stunt double, not a star.

"No, love. I've never seen him before," Joon shook her head.

I sat in the chair, and leaned my head up to the ceiling in relief. The yellow lights stared back at me, a blinding, wonderful haze to consult with. While I could not see him, Taiko switched on the ink pen, and a gelatinous buzz turned the air thicker than syrup. My hungry mind could almost smell the sweet sugar.

"What'll it be?" Taiko asked.

What should I do? The lights above provided no options, but as I stared into them, an idea sprung from the depths of my starving head.

"I want a word on my forearm," I said.

"A word? Any word?"

"No. Just one word: checkmate. In old-fashioned block lettering."

Checkmate killed the king --or, in my case, the elder Game Master. But in chess, killing meant the end. Because mortals, who created the game, believed death was the way to win. Win war, kill the other side, win fights, kill the competition, outlast others, live the longest. Yet here I sat, a pawn in an undead game, still playing.

A tiny resonation reverberated deep within me, starting from the place many alive people might call the heart or the soul. (In my body it was an empty space.) There was clarity in its little waves. A realization. An epiphany which had remained un-epiphanized far too long:

I had been too complacent. The world around me may very well be nothing but an illusion. Had the game not toyed with my head already? These lights above, must be a projection. Taiko, a demon --or an angel, both were wretched beings in my opinion-- in disguise. Joon Faye, the melodious sprite, was probably nothing more than a figment of my own imagination. Everything was fake!

I gripped the chair as the needle pricked my skin, which sent signals of false pain through my nervous system. As if I even had a nervous system! Ha! I was immortal! Dead! Was there ever a thought so lightening and purifying as knowing nothing I did in this "world" would ever matter?

The ink that spelled out the "c" in checkmate must be pretend, too. This was what the Game Master hoped I'd fall for. As if I could rebel against a system so powerful that it created my own augmented reality...

"I've been trapped since the very beginning," I said.

"Huh?"

I blinked and sat up, seeing Taiko as what he really must be: another pawn.

"You played well, I'm impressed. But this game is everlasting. It's stupid of us to think otherwise. So stop wasting my time. Show me your true face. Do you glow? Are your wings hidden beneath your leather jacket? Or shall taking off your pants reveal furry legs like my own?"

I lunged at him, and he slashed at me with the ink pen, crying for help. Grabbing the "human" skin on his neck, I dug my uncut nails deep and pulled, expecting to find a second, tougher layer beneath all the bloodshed. Taiko --if that was his real name-- punched me in the face.

"You are afraid that I know the truth?" I heaved laughter and grabbed ahold of his head, shaking it to see if enough jostling would reveal what really lay inside.

The ink pen returned, stabbing me in the back. It was still on, and I felt the vibrations against my ribs.

"Get off of him!" Joon screamed.

"Pain will not change what I came here for," I cried with glee. "Your kiss awaits!"

Slamming a fist across Taiko's face, I stood and turned, grasping Joon by the wrist. She sent a kick between my legs, and I buckled to the floor. But pain could not exist in this fantasy realm! I stood again, and by now the rest of the occupants of the parlor had cleared out. Sirens wailed like fierce wind in the distance. As if that would stop me.

"I know this is just a test. But I will pass with flying colors. My humanity was already lost. This was just meant to prove it," I nodded to myself.

"Whatever you're about to do, you don't have to," Joon spoke with earnest. "You can walk away from all this."

My smile was hallow like a shark's eyes. Walk away? Lose the game?

"I think I'd rather win."

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Thank you so far, avid readers! I am so proud to share the milestone of 1,000 reads with those of you out there whom have been with me since the beginning, and the new bookworms who have picked this off of the shelf and cannot put it down!

I hope you enjoyed this intense chapter. There's more to come. And if you would like Joon Faye's story to be Book Two of the Infinite Games series, please let me know in the comments.

Thank you ~ X_marks_the_0
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