Doyle's Game

I’m going to be honest. This will be the last thing I do as Jason Armack. I don’t care who knows who I am, because I won’t be that person after I’m done.

Where do I begin? Well to start off, we didn’t mean for this to happen. It was a simple game, what could go wrong? It’s not just a game. The GameMaster Box is not just some dumb game! Focus Jason… focus.

I guess it started at school. I got called to the principal’s office towards the end of the day. I’m tried to keep my hand out of the filth that high school could give you, so I was unaware of why I got called there.

As I entered office, I noticed a few familiar faces. There was Andrew Hall and Haley Starz, two of the Varsity Football players. Then there was Andrew’s cheerleader girlfriend, Brianna Anthony. After that it was just my friend Brian Kyles. He had some trouble with smoking so he was in here a lot.

I sat down and the principal got to explaining. Apparently all of us were volunteered by the school to do some community work. Brian and I didn’t care much since we didn’t have a lot going on. However the other three weren’t as happy. Andrew gritted his perfect teeth.

“You’ll start after school. Meet at the abandoned house on Elm.” The principal smiled.

“Excuse me, I don’t know if you noticed, but the cheerleaders at this school have practice tonight, so I’ll just have to be replaced.” Brianna responded. The principal stared her down.

“I’m acutely aware. Which is why you’ll be banned from practice until your community work is done. That goes for any extracurricular activities, for any of you.” he explained. They could tell by the tone of his voice that this wasn’t going to be something they could cheat they’re way out of.

And that’s how it went. The rest of the school flew by and finally, it was time to go. I had my license, so I picked up Brian from chemistry class and we drove to the place. As I drove I began to question why I was chosen. I had good grades, I did my hours of community service. Was I just that unlucky, or did they know exactly what kind of person they wanted to play.

Anyways, after a couple of minutes, we arrived at the abandoned house on Elm. We were the first people here. Brian, naturally, took the time to light up a cigarette. The smoke always made me want to hurl. Now I kind of miss it.

Nevermind. As the other three began showing up, I continued to wrack my mind on how this happened to us. Brian, with his smoking habits, makes sense. Andrew doesn’t seem like the sharpest pencil in the pouch, makes sense. Same goes for Brianna. The only one I can’t really figure out is Haley.

I decided not to dwell on it too long. I looked around the scenery of the house. Mostly overgrown bushes and vines. Then I noticed what should’ve been noticeable earlier. A neon yellow piece of paper was tacked to the door of the house. I walked over to the door and untacked the message.

It read:

‘Dear students,

Your job for today is simple. There is tons of old rotting stuff inside the house

that needs to be put outside. Get it all out of the first and second floor and

you’re done.

Sincerely,

Your principal’

Seems simple enough. I walked to the others and showed them the note. Brian walked into the house blowing his smoke throughout the rooms. Andrew slammed his fist on the outer wall. He obviously didn’t like the circumstances. Time to get started.

We went room by room, clearing out all the trash and finding anything that could be salvaged. It was mostly Andrew telling us what to do while Brianna and him talked. Thinks he’s the king of the world. Brian picked up an old TV and carried it out the door.

As I cleared things out, I located a metal cube colored a strange dark orange. I picked it up and observed its faces. On the bottom there was a piece of paper. I looked at what the paper read.

It read:

‘Fun, fame, and fortune are not the only things this game has to offer. If you wish to play, grab a friend or friends and come together around the cube. Chant its name to start the game.

-Doyle

Interesting. It’s a game? What kind of game would make you chant its name? Brian walked over to see what I was looking at. I showed it off and immediately he snatched it away. He ran it over to the others. They all stopped what they were doing and checked it out. Slackers. I continued cleaning until I heard someone say ‘wanna play?’.

I looked around and found out that it was Brian who suggested it. The girls seemed hesitant, I mean who wouldn’t be. Honestly we should’ve said no and tossed it in the bin.

But we decided to stop our chores and play the strange game. Everyone sat in a circle around the cube. We just have to chant its name.

“So we’re supposed to chant what?” Haley asked.

“Idiot, we’re supposed to chant the game’s name.” Brianna spoke.

“Which is?”

Brianna didn’t respond. She was too angry to. I thought about it and I could only come to one answer. Doyle.

“I think the name is Doyle.”

“It makes sense.” Haley agreed.

“Let’s try it.” Andrew spoke.

They all held hands and spoke as one voice.

“Doyle.”

The box shook a couple of times. Then a bright green glow emanated from it. The glow turned into a fog that whooshed through the house. It enveloped everything. It was hard to see anything. I think this game is broken.

Finally after a couple of seconds of fogginess, the smoke cleared, showing the new creature that entered the room. Everyone was caught off guard by the creature. It was a grayish humanoid with black hair that faded to gold. It wore a brown coat with a maroon t-shirt. Its purple eyes looked playful.

“Welcome! Thank you all for beginning the game. Do you know how to play or do I need to explain it to you?” it asked.

“Who are you?” Andrew asked. It smiled a toothy grin.

“Who am I? Why I am Doyle, the GameMaster of this Cube. I’m here to get the game set up.”

“Of this Cube? What do y-” Haley started.

“Now then! Let's get this started. Everyone place your hand on the cube.”

This Doyle guy seems strange. His weird outfit, his odd mannerisms. Everyone reluctantly placed their hand on the cube. It hummed to life.

“Now then, what would you like if you win the game?” Doyle asked.

“What can we have?” Brianna giggled.

“Anything.”

“I want Cuban Cigars.” Brian cheered.

“I want the best beer in the world.” Andrew spoke.

“Sounds like you’ll be having a fun time.” Doyle chuckled.

“I want 1 trillion dollars.” Brianna cheered. Doyle’s tail went completely straight. He turned over to Brianna.

“You lost… I’m so sorry.” Doyle spoke in the most serious voice ever. His back split open and a nightmarish stick figure like creature clawed its way out. As it exited  it looked around the room. Brianna screamed in terror which helped it focus on her.

It grabbed her by the neck and began crushing it. Andrew ran to save her, but the creature whacked him into the wall. She gasped for air. No one could do anything to save her. 3. 2. 1.

It broke her neck, dropping her lifeless body on the ground.

“The game has begun a little earlier than expected. Hide and seek. You hide, it seeks. Good luck.” Doyle explained. Everyone ran throughout the house. I decided to hide inside the closet. I stayed inside trying not to make a single noise.

I heard walking outside the door. Something sniffed at the air outside. I kept my mouth shut. Don’t find me, don’t find me! Tears streamed down my eyes. The creature walked away. I sat in the closet minutes on end. How long has it been?

I heard screaming coming from throughout the house. It sounded like Haley or maybe Brian. Tears trickled down my cheeks. I sat there waiting for the creature to find me. 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes.

A figure walked in front of the closet. This is it. Mom, Dad, I love you! The closet door opened.

But it wasn’t the creature. It was Haley. She put out her hand. I grabbed it. She raised me up. I followed her back to the main room. Doyle was there waiting for them.

“Welcome back, winners. I’m glad to see you’re still alive.” Doyle greeted.

“What? We won?” I asked.

“Yes! You won the game. You’ve proven yourself to be better than the others and survived past the time limit.”

“So what happens now?” Haley asked.

“Now you are inducted into the Pawns, so that your body and mind can be put to better use.”

“What does that mean?” I questioned.

“We will be improving you. So you’ll be able to properly serve our master. You’ll get your own.” Doyle explained as the creature popped its head out of his back.

What is he talking about? ‘Master?’ I looked over at Haley. She seemed completely calm. Why isn’t she questioning any of… this?

That’s when I realized it. She was part of this. Somehow. Maybe she had won before, maybe she was one of those Pawns things. She was connected somehow.

“Do you mind if I post something?” I asked.

And surprisingly, they said yes. Maybe they wanted their power to be known, or they didn’t suspect anything from me, but they gave me a computer to post this story. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post anything else, I don’t even know if I’ll be alive after this. All I know is this.

If you find a dark orange cube, don’t mess with it.

To be continued...